


The Test in the Texts

by NatesMama



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Drama, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-22
Updated: 2012-05-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 20:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 31,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/410748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatesMama/pseuds/NatesMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booth is killed in an explosion and everyone tries to get on with their lives...until Brennan begins receiving strange text messages from an unknown caller.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There were things in this world that Temperance Brennan failed to understand. She understood how the human body worked, but she didn't understand why. She was aware that the organs in the body all worked together in sync with the skeletal system to keep us all alive, but the meaning behind it was a mystery to her. She knew that eventually everyone died, but again the  _reason_  escaped her. And nothing made her angrier than when she didn't understand something.

_Angry_ would probably be the proper emotional descriptor for her current state. From her 'assigned' seat close to the casket, she could see everyone in the room and all she wanted to do was run. The one reason she defied her innate need to get the hell away from any overly-emotional situation was standing resolutely next to her, gripping her hand like a tiny vice. Parker.

In the days following what Hacker had called "one of the biggest messes in FBI history", Brennan had found her only comfort came when she was close to Booth's son. Even as his sad eyes, so much like his father's, looked to her for an explanation as to why his daddy was gone, she felt Booth's presence so palpably it was like a balm on her soul. They grieved together, she and Parker, and Rebecca seemed almost overly grateful to have Brennan there. Again, the why seemed just out of reach.

"Temperance?" She and Rebecca had been on a first-name basis since the moment Brennan stood on her porch to deliver the news of Booth's death in person. She had insisted that an unfamiliar agent showing up would make the nightmare all the more difficult, and swallowed her own despair to comfort her partner's son and his mother. Glancing at Rebecca, Brennan shook herself out of her reverie.

"Yes, Rebecca?"

Nodding towards the woman sitting a few feet away, Rebecca continued. "Do you think we should…you know, try to include Mary in some of the arrangements? I mean, I know that she and Seeley had only been dating for three months, but she seems really upset."

Brennan turned towards the pretty redhead, who seemed to be praying to herself, head bowed. Despite her own feelings, Brennan genuinely liked Mary. She was kind, intelligent and seemed to really adore Booth in the way that he deserved to be adored. And she wasn't threatened by Booth's relationship with his partner like some other women had been. That fact alone served to endear her to Brennan, in her own way.

"Maybe. I'll speak to her, Rebecca. Has she met Parker?" Brennan's question seemed wildly out of context, but Rebecca understood.

"Yesterday at the funeral home was the first time. You know how Seeley was about introducing Park to women in his life. I guess he…" At a loss, Rebecca shook her head. "I don't know how he felt about her. We never talked about any woman except you."

"Technically, we were only work partners, I wouldn't fall into the category of 'other women' as Booth defined it in regards to Parker, so I should be exempt from the equation."

"Temperance." The word was spoken quietly, but with reproach that was unmistakable. "Even now, you can't admit that there was more to your relationship than work?"

Sighing, Brennan stood. "I'll go speak to Mary."

Mary O'Reilly always believed that there was someone special out there for her. A man who was good, and honest and strong and wanted the same things from life that she did. So when she met Seeley Booth at a school function he was attending for his son Parker, she was able to suspend disbelief about the fact that a man with seemingly no flaws was not only single, but completely unattached. Well, _almost_  completely unattached. Only a truly stupid woman would miss the connection Seeley had with his partner, Dr. Brennan. But he had assured Mary time and again that they were only partners and friends, and she had no choice but to believe him. His honesty was one of the things she loved most about him. And yes, she had loved him. It was impossible not to. And loving him included getting along with Dr. Brennan and the rest of the team, something Mary found easier than she had anticipated. They made an effort to include her in their gatherings, went out of their way to be incredibly nice to her, and even Dr. Brennan had invited her to lunch on a few occasions. The woman was a little odd, but sincere in her desire to see Seeley happy and always kind to Mary when they spoke. Deep down Mary knew that Seeley wasn't in love with her, but he spoke lovingly to her when they were alone and treated her with a kind of adoration she hadn't ever experienced before.

So when Dr. Brennan appeared at her apartment door a few nights ago, a haunted look in her eyes, tears on her cheeks and apologies on her lips, Mary literally felt her heart breaking. The FBI said that the tac team Seeley led into the seemingly abandoned warehouse had no idea that aside from the evidence they needed to bring down a corrupt senator, the building also contained four thousand pounds of TNT, set to explode with trip wires all over the building. The warehouse was completely destroyed and three FBI agents were killed, including Seeley. Because Mary was simply a girlfriend, and a rather new one at that, she had no legal way to get information on what happened exactly, but Dr. Brennan and Rebecca had made sure she was kept in the loop, a fact for which she was eternally grateful. Mary had finally met Seeley's son, Parker, the night before and had wished with everything she had that the meeting had never taken place. The poor child was devastated, and seemed to want to do nothing but cling to either his mother or his uncle, Seeley's brother. Mary doubted that the meeting even registered with Parker. And now sitting here at the funeral home, surrounded by friends and family she didn't know, she'd never felt so alone.

"Mary?"

Looking up into Dr. Brennan's watery eyes, every thought of feeling sorry for herself flew out of her head. Yes, she may have loved Seeley, but he had only occupied her world for three short months. The woman in front of her had lost her best friend, someone who was a major piece of her existence for almost seven years.

"Dr. Brennan. How are you doing?" Mary sniffed and gestured to the chair next to her. Brennan took the seat with a sigh.

"To be honest, I cannot quantify how I feel right now. I suppose the only word I can come up with is numb. But, in any case, I came over to see if there was anything you would like to contribute to the services on Wednesday. Rebecca and I thought you might want to have some input."

Shock crossed Mary's face as she absorbed the other woman's words. "Me? But…I only knew Seeley for a short time. Surely his brother or his grandfather would be better suited to-"

Shaking her head, Brennan placed her hand on Mary's knee. "Maybe. But Booth cared for you and I know that you loved him as much as anyone. I think he would appreciate it if you were offered some say in what happens in the next few days."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan. But no. I wouldn't be comfortable and to be honest, I didn't know him as well as you all did. I think he would appreciate it more if you and Rebecca handled everything. Besides…" Mary stopped for a moment, contemplating whether she should share her decision.

"What is it?" Brennan leaned towards her slightly, picking up the feeling that this was private information.

"I'm leaving DC, Dr. Brennan." She pulled another tissue out of her handbag and wiped her eyes. "A few weeks ago I was offered another teaching position at an exclusive prep school outside of Flint, Michigan. Before…before all this happened I was going to turn it down. But now…" Mary looked behind her at the gleaming black casket. "Now, I just want to leave. I can't be around here, thinking about what might have been and wallowing. I hope you can understand that."

"Actually, I understand very well." Brennan looked off somewhere towards the back of the room, eyes unfocused. "I truly do. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. But, you should know…you will be missed here."

"Thank you. I will miss all of you as well, Dr. Brennan."

"Please, call me Temperance." Brennan took Mary's hand and held it. "Is there anything you need right now? Water or coffee?"

"No, thank you Temperance. In fact…" She stood and picked up her handbag. "I think I want to go home."

Standing with Mary, Brennan leaned in to hug her slightly. "Alright then. Please call me if you need anything. Anything at all."

"I will. Goodbye." Mary nodded towards Rebecca, who was watching the exchange from a few feet away, and walked out of the room.

Brennan walked back over to Rebecca and gestured towards the rest of the mourners. "How much longer do you think everyone will stay?"

"Not much longer, I don't think. We only offered visiting hours until six and it's nearly that now." She ran her fingers through Parker's hair as he lay sleeping on the sofa next to her. "I really need to get Park home. I'm hoping he'll sleep through the night tonight."

"Is he still having nightmares?"

"Yes. Almost constantly now." Rebecca sighed shakily and wiped her eyes. "I want to be mad at Seeley for this, but I miss him so damn much I just can't. I know he would have moved Heaven and Earth to avoid leaving, but since that was impossible…I just, I am so heartbroken, Temperance."

Brennan sat next to Rebecca and wrapped her arms around her, breath hitching in her chest. "I know, Rebecca. I know. Me, too." They sat on the sofa, both mourning a man loved to different degrees by both of them, when suddenly Brennan felt a vibration in her pocket. Pulling back, she reached for her cell and glanced at the screen.  _'Who would be sending me a text message now?'_

Standing and excusing herself from the room, Brennan stepped into the side room set up for family only, and opened the message.

**Thinking of taking some classes at the Musica in Akron but not really sure the curriculum's for me.**

Assuming that someone sent the message to the wrong person; Brennan checked the number and realized that it wasn't one she recognized and the caller ID simply said, 'Caller Unknown'. Confused but not concerned, Brennan put her phone back in her pocket and exited the room to rejoin the gathering next door.


	2. Chapter 2

It was like waking up to a nightmare that never ended. Brennan was never one for hyperbole, but the way her heart clenched and her stomach dropped every single time she opened her eyes in the morning, the description was apt because of the very first cognizant thought that entered her brain as the light hit her eyes was always:  _Booth is dead. He's not coming back. This is_ _ **real.**_

All during the funeral, although it was ridiculous, she looked around at the other mourners, hoping to see his smiling face hidden among the tear-streaked faces of their friends. She would have given almost anything to be able to jump up and punch him in the jaw one more time, to pull him to her in a 'guy hug', to hear him call her name.  _'Hey Bones, got a body for ya! Chop, chop! Get a move on, genius!'_ She gasped at the visceral reaction her body had to simply hearing his voice in her head, then pulled the comforter back over her and tunneled deep into the blankets. She only, finally, poked her head out when her cell phone rang for the third time that morning. Fumbling for the offending item on her nightstand, she finally grabbed it and barked into the receiver.

"This had better be good!"

Silence greeted her growled invective. "Um…Temperance?"

Sitting up, Brennan wiped her hand across her face in embarrassment. "Oh, Mary. I'm sorry. I didn't sleep well last night. Is everything alright?"

"It's okay. I apologize for calling so early, but I wanted to say goodbye." Brennan could hear a car door shut in the background of the call.

"You're leaving now?" Brennan threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood. "Are you going to say goodbye to everyone else? Do you need a ride to the airport?"

"No…no. I am getting into a cab right now. I just…I wanted to let you know that I was leaving and to thank you."

"Thank me?"

Mary chuckled a bit at Brennan's obvious surprise. "Yes, Temperance. To thank you. Look, I know that no matter how hard the past three weeks have been for me, they've been a living hell for you. And for you to show me so much caring and consideration is something that I will never forget. Ever."

"Oh. Well…you're welcome. I guess…I just, I know Booth would have wanted me to make sure you were okay, and I know that he did care for you a great deal, so that made it important to me as well. But there's really nothing to thank me for. Honestly." Brennan took a deep breath, considering. "I should be the one thanking you, really."

"Me? Why?" Now it was Mary's turn to be flabbergasted.

Brennan sat heavily down on her bed. "Because you gave Booth companionship, love and caring. Something he deserved more than anyone. And that is something I could never repay. So thank you, Mary. Thank you for making sure that Booth wasn't alone."

Tears pricked Mary's eyes as she listened to the other woman's heartfelt words. "You loved him very much, didn't you?"

The last month's horror has taught Brennan that no matter how irrational emotion was, no matter how much time you thought you had, the harsh reality remained that life is fleeting and no amount of saving face or dignity could outweigh the simple truth that telling those you love that you love them is one of the most important acts of selflessness one could ever commit.

"Yes. Yes, I still do."

After the obligatory promise to keep in touch with the Mary and bidding her goodbye, Brennan checked her other calls from the morning. One from Angela, one from her father and a text message. Another strange call from an unknown number.

**The skies are very blue today in Belgium.**

Another strange, cryptic message obviously not intended for her. She thought about texting the caller back to let them know they were getting the wrong person, but she had other more pressing matters to take care of, so she let it go.

The task ahead of Brennan was one she thought she had put off more than long enough. Even though Pops, Jared and even Rebecca had insisted that no one would know more than she what to do with everything in Booth's apartment, the thought of going through all of his things with the intention of throwing some of it away unnerved her. Although having Booth's blood family trust her enough to know who should get what gave her a warm feeling, she didn't know how long she would be able to hold her own simmering emotions in check. Taking a deep breath, Brennan inserted and turned the key and pushed the door open.

While she had prepared herself for the apartment to smell musty and unused, nothing she could have done could have prepared her for the surprising scent of  _him_  all around her. Even after all this time, Booth's own unique smell permeated every nook and cranny of the small apartment. She indulged herself for a moment, standing stock-still and taking in the first real, true comfort she had felt in weeks. Mentally giving herself a shake, she walked to her right into the kitchen area and checked the fridge and cupboards, gratified to see that Jared's wife Padme had been by to clean out any perishables as promised. She stared at the front of the fridge for a moment, smiling slightly at what Booth had considered important enough to display there. A picture of Parker from his day camp last summer, a grocery list that included tofu for her with "Yuck" written in parenthesis next to it, various notes and phone numbers written on post-its, and a picture of the two of them from the Jeffersonian Donor Ball they'd attended two weeks before Booth died. She had brought Andrew as her date and Booth had brought Mary, but they'd ended up spending much of the function sitting at their table talking to each other. That had been the night Andrew had broken up with her, as a matter of fact. At the time Brennan had wondered about his motives, but now everything was coming into focus. Her and Booth had gotten past his declaration on the steps of the Hoover that evening so long ago and finally returned to a good place with each other, and their behavior at the ball was indicative of that milestone. They both believed they had moved on from being "partners with the possibility of something more" to "partners and best friends". And both had seemed happy with that arrangement. But looking back on it now, Brennan realized that they had never really moved on…they just became extremely adept at hiding it. Or so they thought. Obviously Andrew knew better. It made Brennan wonder what Mary had noticed, as well.

Four hours later, Brennan lugged the last of the boxes she had packed from Booth's bedroom and dropped it in the small hallway next to the door. Looking down at the box, she was glad that no one else was here to see what she was doing. She checked that all the lights were off and the appliances were unplugged, and walked out the door, box in her arms. She stopped downstairs to speak to the landlord, who was surprised when Brennan handed him a check for six months rent.

"I would like to keep the apartment for a little while longer, if you don't mind." She explained, shifting the box she was holding.

"No, Dr. Brennan. As long as you're paying rent you can keep it as long as you like. I'm just so sorry about Agent Booth. He was a damn good man and a great tenant." He shook his head sadly. "You're all in my prayers, Dr. Brennan."

"Thank you. Have a good weekend." Brennan nodded and headed out to the rented van she had parked just outside the door. She opened the back door and placed the last box, marked "Socks and t-shirts" in her neat hand, beside the others already stacked inside. Closing the doors again, she rested her forehead against the cool exterior of the vehicle for a moment. Before Booth she would never have done something so irrational. She knew Booth wasn't coming back, that he would no longer have any need for the crazy socks, the vintage tees and the expensive tailored suits she had placed in the van on an earlier trip, but she couldn't bring herself to take them to Goodwill just yet. Granted, renting a storage locker was beyond the pale, but something inside her was begging her to keep a hold of these things that made Booth…well,  _Booth_. So she listened to her gut and decided to keep everything for now.

Once she had negotiated the tight parking area behind Booth's apartment and maneuvered the van into the street, Brennan let her thoughts drift to the last three weeks and how everyone around her was dealing with the loss of Booth. Parker was still having an occasional nightmare, but Rebecca found that if he was able to talk to Brennan on a daily basis it seemed to calm him. She didn't know how she felt about being Parker's surrogate for his father, but she embraced the responsibility as she knew Booth would want her to. She loved Parker dearly, and her heart ached for his loss even more than her own.

Parker was a walk in the park to deal with in comparison to Angela, however. It had taken Angela until just a few days ago to manage to face Brennan without bursting into tears, a fact that had driven Brennan to avoid her friend for days at a time. Cam had finally gone off on Angela on the forensic platform, calling her dramatics "hurtful and obnoxious", pointing out that her reactions were only causing Brennan more pain. Even Hodgins couldn't find fault in Cam's diatribe, his agreement finally knocking some sense of decorum into Angela and causing her to apologize to Brennan profusely. Aside from their handling of Angela, Brennan was grateful to Cam and Hodgins for their determination to get things back to as close to normal as possible in the lab despite their own grief at the loss of a good friend. Hodgins was more introspective now, and when Cam had inadvertently called him "Bug Man" the other day his eyes watered even as he smiled. Cam was probably almost as devastated as anyone but knew that Booth would haunt her forever if she didn't do everything in her power to support Brennan, Parker and the rest of his loved ones as much as she was allowed, and in doing so she found her own kind of comfort.

Even Sweets was less therapist, more friend to Brennan in those first few days. He had offered to listen if she wanted to talk, but didn't push her. Brennan suspected that it was more the fact that Sweets was broken hearted himself, but she appreciated his quiet support nonetheless. Max and Russ had been there for the funeral and the few days afterward, but they both knew she wanted to deal with things on her own and only offered her moral support and a hand to hold if she asked, which was exactly what she needed. Beyond her closest friends and family, her interns were there to pick up the slack at the lab and take that worry off her mind. Some, like Wendell, even working double shifts to make sure Brennan was available to take care of whatever she needed in regards to Booth's funeral and the joint memorial service the FBI planned for Booth, along with Charlie and Agent Zhang, the other agents killed in the explosion.

A sense of irony settled over Brennan as she contemplated her support system of the last month. Every single one of these people was there for her  _because of Booth_ , and she had needed their strength _because of Booth_. Thinking about how sometimes life comes full circle; she turned into the storage unit facility and prepared herself to start physically storing away her memories of Seeley Booth.


	3. Chapter 3

In the weeks that followed the cleaning out of Booth's apartment, life seemed to go back to normal. Or as normal as it could be with a new agent working alongside the team at the Jeffersonian. At first, Brennan had resisted partnering with anyone else but Booth, but after careful consideration she'd decided that she wanted to continue to try to right Booth's "cosmic balance sheet" on her own and believed he would appreciate the gesture. Cam had her doubts that Seeley would want Brennan going out in the field without him, but when Brennan assured her that her duties would be limited to questioning suspects at the Hoover and working the case from the lab, Cam relented. And after meeting Agent Richard Gunn, Cam was even more comfortable. He was large, imposing and seemed to have a great deal of integrity. She suspected that even Booth would like him, especially since he was in no way, shape or form interested in Brennan as anything other than a co-worker and partner. Angela had made jokes about Gunn's resemblance to an actor Brennan, of course, had never heard of, but after watching The Green Mile one night over Ben and Jerry's, even Brennan had to admit that Richard definitely looked a lot like the actor who played the poor, wrongly accused soul from the film. And they all had wondered about Gunn's private life, which he never discussed with any of them, until they all met up at Founding Fathers for drinks after their first successful case and he introduced them all to his boyfriend, Erik. Thinking of the happy dance Booth would do, knowing that Brennan was safe and protected and partnered with a gay man, Cam smiled her first genuine Booth-related smile in almost two months.

Aside from making sure that Brennan was protected, even in her now-limited field work, Cam had taken it upon herself to keep an eye on her friend and co-worker's eating and sleeping habits, much the same way Booth had. Of course, Cam wasn't going to suddenly appear on Brennan's doorstep at midnight with Thai food, but she had brought take out into the lab on several occasions when she knew Brennan would be there late. She had also gotten Brennan to meet her for lunch at the diner a few times under the guise of talking shop. Cam thought that Brennan was fully aware of what she was up to, but aside from a fleeting look of gratitude once or twice they never discussed it.

The thought of sending someone to get take out later crossed Cam's mind as she swiped her card to step onto the forensic platform that afternoon. Brennan had gone out with Gunn to recover the body that now lay on the exam table, and had been intently examining it ever since their return several hours ago. She gave particulates to Hodgins and instructions to Mr. Nigel-Murray, this week's intern, but had otherwise not said a word. The skull was still awaiting depth markers for Angela's reconstruction, so the artist was ensconced in her office catching up on reconstructions from other departments as she waited. Agent Gunn himself was hiding in Brennan's office catching up on paperwork and trying to stay out of the way. He was a rather large man, over six feet tall and close to 250 pounds, but as much as he genuinely liked the good doctor, he was still a little intimidated by her. Cam found that thought hilarious and incredibly endearing.

"Dr. Brennan, how are we doing?" Cam decided that if she didn't ask, no one would tell.

Looking up, Brennan gave her a small smile. "Hi Cam. I have determined that cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the base of the skull, mob-style. Also, judging by the scrapings on the distal phalanges and the lack of teeth in the skull I would say that someone wanted to make sure that we never identified this man. All the usual markers used for identification are gone."

Smiling, Cam shook her head. "I guess they didn't expect you to be working the case then, did they?"

"Apparently not. They wouldn't have bothered otherwise." Brennan's usual lack of modesty and guile was nice to see, and made Cam feel as if things were truly getting back to normal.

"Well, if there's nothing else I am going to order in lunch. I expect everyone to gather in the upstairs lounge when it gets here. We all need a break." Cam didn't even wait for an argument from Brennan, turning immediately to walk off the platform.

Brennan looked up to watch Cam's departure, shaking her head at her boss's obvious mother henning where she was concerned. She may not get every subtle gesture of human interaction, but she knew when someone was trying to look out for her well-being. But instead of being irritated by Cam's attention, Brennan found it comforting. It made the emptiness she had been feeling ever since Andrew had called her to tell her about Booth feel a little less overwhelming, and Brennan was grateful. Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket signaling a text message to her phone. Snapping off her gloves, she pulled out her cell and checked the screen.

**Loving the scenery at the big park in Alberta. Wish you were here.**

Brennan felt a little guilty that whoever was sending her messages didn't know that they had the wrong person, but for some reason she couldn't name, she didn't delete them. This was the third one she had received, and she resolved to text the sender back later to let them know they were mistyping the number. Sliding the phone back into her pocket, Brennan suddenly felt very tired. She left the rest of the exam to her intern, instructing him to get some x-rays on a specific section, and then left the platform herself to head for her office.

When she entered her office, she had to smile a bit at her partner, who was currently sprawled out on her sofa, snoring softly. While she had been worried that seeing another agent sleeping in the same place that Booth always occupied while waiting for results from the team would bother her, Agent Gunn had only inspired affection. He was a huge teddy bear of a man, seemed to genuinely care about the victims they were seeking justice for, worked incredibly well with the rest of the team and Brennan couldn't have asked for a better stand-in for Booth. She suspected that even Booth himself would have approved.

Lightly tapping Gunn on the knee, she tried to wake him. "Richard?"

"Mmmph." Gunn rolled over, ignoring Brennan's attempts to get him to open his eyes.

Smirking, she tried again. She ran her fingernails through his hair, scratching lightly. "Oh, Richard….wake up, baby."

"Wha?" Gunn shot up to a sitting position, eyes wide and confused. "Doc?"

Unable to help herself, Brennan roared with laughter. "I'm sorry, Richard!" She plopped down on the table across from him. "I couldn't help myself…"

Shaking his head and smiling sleepily, Gunn sat the rest of the way up and threw the blanket he had been wrapped in onto the back of the couch. "Thanks, Doc. You're pretty funny when you want to be."

"I try. I learned from the best." As always when Brennan made even an oblique reference to Booth, both looked a little chagrined. "Um..anyway, I wanted to let you know that Cam ordered lunch for everyone and we'll be eating in the lounge, if you're interested."

"Great." He sat up and pulled his shoes back on. "Are you eating, Brennan? You hardly had breakfast."

Standing, Brennan crossed to her desk. "Yes, Dad. I'll be there. I just have a few emails to send out."

"Alrighty then. No dawdling. I'll come after you if you take too long." Gunn grinned and shook his finger at her as he walked out.

A small smile still gracing her face, Brennan sat down at her desk and opened the bottom drawer. For some reason, today she was feeling unsettled and needed something to soothe her. When she pulled out the small blue figurine, her smile turned into a full-on grin as she sat back and turned the Brainy Smurf character in her hand idly. She was so entrenched in her thoughts that she never heard Mr. Nigel-Murray enter her office.

"Here are the x-rays you asked for, Dr. Brennan." The intern set the films down on her desk, and began to turn to leave before he noticed the toy in Brennan's hand.

"Ah, the Smurfs. I remember them from when I was a child." He watched with interest as Dr. Brennan continued to turn the figure in her hand. "Did you know, Dr. Brennan, that Peyo, the creator of the Smurfs, was born in Belgium?"

"Mmmm. No, I didn't-" Suddenly, Brennan's head shot up and her eyes were wide and almost frightened, staring at Nigel-Murray in shock. "What? Are you sure?"

Completely confused by his mentor's reaction, the intern nodded. "Yes, I am sure. His name was Pierre Culliford, but was more famously known as Peyo, born in Brussels, Belgium in 1928."

Jumping up and grabbing her purse and cell phone, Brennan began to run from the room. "Please tell Dr. Saroyan for me that something personal came up and I had to leave. I'll be back soon!" Brennan took off out the door, headed for the lab exit.

Gasping for breath as she sat in her locked car, Brennan pulled out her cell.

**The skies are very blue today in Belgium.**

She hadn't known it was possible, but she literally felt the blood drain from her face.  _'Oh, God…it can't be…'_ But it was hard to ignore the definite reference in the message. Blue. Belgium.  _Smurfs._  Brennan's stomach clenched and she was able to get her car door open before her breakfast rebelled. Leaning over, spitting and coughing, tears spilling from her eyes, she suddenly felt more terrified than she had ever felt in her entire life.


	4. Chapter 4

Once Brennan recovered from her impromptu regurgitation, she closed her car door and sat in silence for a long time. She knew she needed to get to her apartment and regroup, but her head was still swimming and her eyes were cloudy…not exactly optimum conditions for driving. She glanced at the phone in her hand.  _'I need to find a computer.'_  she thought.

Taking a deep breath, she started the car and practically peeled out of the parking structure.

Brennan entered her apartment, throwing her keys in the bowl by the door. She toed off her heels and headed directly for her bedroom down the hall, laptop in hand. As she entered the room, she glanced at the box sitting near the closet marked 'Socks and t-shirts' and her breath hitched in her chest.

' _This is ridiculous, Temperance. It's a coincidence, nothing more.'_  Her brain was calmly telling her to be rational, while her heart screamed something completely different. Finally settling on the bed, she booted up her laptop and scanned the strange text messages she'd received.

**Thinking of taking some classes at the Musica in Akron but not really sure the curriculum's for me.**

The first message, the one she'd received at Booth's wake, stared back at her dispassionately. Steeling her resolve, she opened up a Yahoo search and typed in 'Musica, Akron, College, Classes'. When she saw the first article, she pushed the laptop away frantically and scooted to the top of the bed, eyes wide and desperate. She was white-knuckling her comforter, and her breathing was coming in gasps.

The article was about the Musica in Akron becoming the new home of the Ohio College of Clowning Arts.

Like a record stuck on one song, the same thought ran through Brennan's mind over and over.  _'Booth is alive. Booth is alive. Booth is ALIVE!'_ Her stomach felt like lead and her head was pounding…and she had never been so exhilarated in her whole life. She wanted to jump and scream and cry and tell everyone they knew…but then she realized that Booth was contacting her and her alone for a reason, and she knew she had to keep it together in case he was in trouble and needed her help.

With that resolve firmly entrenched in her head and heart, she checked the other text message she had saved.

**Loving the scenery at the big park in Alberta. Wish you were here.**

Another quick Yahoo search for big parks in Alberta, Canada brought up several results. As she scanned down the page, a huge, delighted grin crossed her face.

Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Laughing in relief and happiness, Brennan curled up on her bed with her phone and finally released the deep breath she had been holding since Booth had died. She knew that he never would have contacted her unless he needed her help and it had to be bad if even Parker was led to believe that Booth was really dead. Yes, he had promised that if this ever happened again he would let her know, but deep down she understood the fact that only a threat towards Parker or herself would be the only acceptable reason he would risk everything to contact her. Getting herself together, she jumped off the bed and began to pace the floor, trying to come up with a response she could send him that would let him know she was with him and more than willing to help with whatever he needed. Her mind drifted back to that day almost three years ago, when she had stormed into Booth's bathroom and confronted him about not calling her when he faked his death the last time. Her analytical mind had catalogued everything in the room (yes,  _everything_ ) and now she was running through that list to come up with something only the two of them would understand.

The graphic novel.  _'That's it.'_ , she thought.

Not knowing anything about comics, Brennan picked up her discarded laptop and began to research with a new purpose. Once she knew everything there was to know about Booth's choice of superhero bathtub reading material, she grabbed her cell and began typing.

 

In a run-down, dark and seedy apartment six hours away, a cell phone vibrated, signaling an incoming message.

**The grass is bright green here in Coast City.**

"That's my girl, Bones. That's my girl."


	5. Chapter 5

Three days passed while Brennan anxiously waited to see if her text had gotten to Booth and was understood. She didn't know if he had access to the internet or even if he was supposed to have the phone he used to send the original messages. And on top of that worry, she had a body on her exam table that she couldn't identify.

It had been four days since she and Agent Gunn had recovered the slightly charred body from the abandoned building near the Capitol. Brennan had been able to determine that cause of death was a single gunshot to the back of the skull, but all identifying markers from the victim were gone. Obliterated. And his DNA was in no database they could access. Sitting comfortably on her office sofa, Brennan tried valiantly to study the x-rays and data from the nameless soul on the forensic platform, but the only thought that occupied her mind was whether or not Booth had gotten her message, and if he'd even understood it. Hopefully his interest in the Green Lantern was more than cursory; otherwise her reference to Coast City, Hal Jordan's hometown, would miss him completely.

Sighing, Brennan rolled her head on her shoulders and tried to relax. To the outside observer, she had been normal, almost sedate, as of late. Even Angela had commented to Cam that Brennan had seemed to have finally accepted the inevitable and had begun to move on without Booth. If they only knew, Brennan thought. She was sure that Booth had contacted her and only her because he knew that she alone could compartmentalize the natural reaction to the news that his death was once again erroneous. She also hoped he called her because he trusted her above anyone else.

Brennan was so caught up in her introspection that she missed Agent Gunn's entrance into her office. Richard stood quietly and watched his partner as she stared off into space with what he could only describe as a smirk on her face. In the month or so that he had known Dr. Temperance Brennan, he had seen her smile slightly, laugh a bit, and tease him constantly but this…this was new. She looked almost…satisfied. As if something she had been worrying over was finally settled. He only hoped that it had to do with Booth.

Special Agent Richard Gunn had attended Quantico with Seeley Booth and found the man decent, honorable and damn funny. They had a great time after hours, and challenged each other equally on the clock. Booth had been instantly accepting of his sexual orientation, didn't even see it as an issue, which was rare in the alpha-male world of the FBI. That fact alone would have endeared Booth to Gunn, but when, during training, Gunn had suffered a stress fracture in his foot, it looked as though he was going to have to drop out and try to reapply at a later date. Gunn had wanted to wallow in self-pity, but Booth would hear none of that. He made Gunn wrap his foot and suck it up, getting together with him after training for hours on end, challenging him to push himself and find the strength of character to muddle through and complete training. Gunn literally owed his career to Seeley Booth, and now was his chance to repay him.

Gunn, like every other agent, had heard about the explosion that took the lives of three of their own. Upon finding out that one of the lost was Booth; he immediately applied for the liaison position with the Jeffersonian. Of all the things he knew would need to be done in his friend's absence, taking care of Dr. Brennan was the one thing Gunn knew he could handle better than anyone. And to his surprise, Brennan had actually been quite receptive to his offer of partnership. He didn't know if it was his own personality or something in Brennan herself, but they had hit it off almost immediately. Gunn hadn't mentioned that he knew Booth, but sooner or later they were going to have to have that conversation, and he looked forward to it. He wanted to share something of the great man he knew with the woman who loved him.

With a sigh, Brennan looked up and finally realized that he was there. "Oh! Richard, I'm sorry. How long have you been here?"

"Not long, Doc. I've run out of paperwork to fake at the Hoover, so I thought I would come and take you out for lunch." Gunn crossed to the sofa and sat down next to her.

Smiling for a reason she couldn't really pinpoint, Brennan gave in rather easily.

At the diner, Brennan and Gunn sat at the counter waiting for their order. Gunn hazarded a glance at his very silent partner and tried to start a conversation. "So, Doc what's got you in such a good mood today?"

"Me?" Brennan squeaked, surprised at the question. "What makes you think I'm in a good mood?"

"Oh, just a feeling. You seem…more relaxed today. It's nice to see."

Blushing a little, Brennan looked down at her coffee. "Thank you. I think-"

Suddenly, Brennan's phone vibrated, indicating an incoming text message.


	6. Chapter 6

Brennan stared at her phone for longer than was necessary, making Gunn wonder what had her so enthralled. He didn't try to lean over her shoulder, but he was definitely intrigued.

For her part, Brennan wasn't even aware of anyone else around her. All her attention was focused on her phone.

**Princess Diana and Mr. Eliphalet should go by the Book.**

Relief spread through Brennan's body like wildfire and she had to suppress the grin that threatened to overtake her face. Coughing slightly, she put her phone back into her pocket and turned back to her partner. "I'm sorry; I was waiting for a message from my father. What were we talking about?"

Gunn may not have known Brennan for very long, but he definitely knew when someone was lying to him, and red flags were popping up all over the place at Brennan's excuse. "I don't even remember, Doc. Tell you what, why don't I walk you back to the lab and I can get back to the Hoover and pretend to do more paperwork. Sound good?"

Glad to have an excuse to get back to her office to decipher Booth's latest text, Brennan readily agreed. "Yes, thank you, Richard." She followed him out of the diner, deep in thought.

Two frustrating hours later, Brennan was still working on trying to figure out what Booth was telling her. She was about thirty seconds away from throwing her laptop across the room when she heard Angela's excited yell carry across the lab.

"I have an ID on our victim! Bren! Cam!" Angela's high heels carried her loudly into Brennan's office, where she screeched to a halt directly in front of the desk. "I found him!"

Smiling at her friend's antics, Brennan reached her hand out for the folder Angela was waving around. "So, who is he?"

"That senator's aide that was missing, Michael Novella. The one who worked for-" Angela suddenly got a pained expression when she realized what she was going to say.

Brennan stood and walked around her desk, placing a hand on Angela's shoulder. "It's fine, Ang. He worked for Senator Roberts, right?"

Nodding, Angela sank down into one of the office chairs. "I'm sorry, Bren. It's just…knowing that man might be responsible for Booth…" She broke off on a sob. "Dammit. I really am sorry, I am."

Kneeling in front of her friend, Brennan tried to calm her down. "Ang, please. It's okay. Let's just take a deep breath and get up to the platform and solve this case. Okay? I'll call Richard with the ID and we'll go from there."

Angela stood and grabbed Brennan in a fierce hug. "Brennan, despite what you think about yourself, you have a more open heart than anyone ever gave you credit for."

Brennan drew back to look her in the eye. "That's not true, Angela. Booth always gave me credit. Always."

Back on the platform, Brennan began yet another examination of the body. Knowing now that the remains belonged to an aide who worked for an allegedly corrupt senator who was currently being investigated by the FBI made everyone in the lab all the more resolved to find out who was responsible. Especially since the senator might be involved in the death of one of their own. Gunn had hightailed it back to the Jeffersonian as soon as Brennan called him with the ID, and had called Hacker while he watched Brennan circle the exam table with a determined stare. She knew she was missing something, but she just couldn't pinpoint it. It reminded her of something Booth had said once about a word being "just on the tip of his tongue"…. _Booth._  She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before.

**Princess Diana and Mr. Eliphalet should go by the Book.**

The  _Book._ The victim's name was Michael  _Novella._  Novella, a short story or book. Princess Diana….Wonder Woman,  _not_  the woman in England. Mentally slapping herself on the forehead, Brennan turned to her partner.

"Richard! Have you got the file on the victim here?" Brennan removed her gloves and began to walk towards her office, indicating that Gunn follow her.

"Sure, Doc. Why?" Gunn was truly fascinated by the sudden change in Brennan's demeanor, but decided to go along with her for the time being.

Shaking her head, Brennan sat down at her computer to do another search. "Just a feeling. Nothing concrete as of yet."

"A feeling, huh?" Laughing, Gunn handed her the file. "Hey, if you're going to go on a feeling, I am more than happy to encourage you."

Looking up from her search, Brennan smiled slightly. "Could you close and lock the door and draw the shades, please?"

Gunn did as he was asked, then settled back into the seat in front of Brennan. "What's up, Doc?" He grinned.

"How long have you been waiting to use that?"

"Too long. And now that I have….I see how cheesy it is. Sorry." He laughed with Brennan, then waved his hand back and forth. "C'mon, Brennan. Tell me."

Taking a deep breath, Brennan asked, "Do you know who Eliphalet is?"

Sitting up in shock, Gunn stared at Brennan. "Where…where did you hear that name?"

"Richard."

"Brennan."

"Tell me. Please."

They stared at each other for another minute, neither dropping their gaze, until Gunn finally saw what he needed to see in her eyes. "Not here. Let's go for a walk."


	7. Chapter 7

No words were exchanged between the partners as they left the lab, got into Gunn's FBI SUV, and headed out to the Mall. Once parked, they exited the vehicle and began walking along the paths next to the reflecting pool. Showing uncharacteristic restraint, Brennan allowed Gunn to gather his thoughts before speaking.

"You knew Booth well before all this." It wasn't a question.

Inhaling sharply through his nose, Gunn nodded. "Yes. We went through Quantico together. He saved my career and my sanity, in more ways than you can imagine."

Smiling slightly, Brennan hazarded a glance his way. "That sounds just like Booth."

As they headed further away from the Washington Memorial, Gunn relayed his first meeting with Booth, their instant friendship forged while training to be FBI agents, and Booth's involvement in his physical therapy during his injury. Sensing something was being left out, Brennan nudged a bit.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Giving Brennan a sidelong gaze, Gunn smiled. "Booth was right; you're a lot more intuitive than you give yourself credit for."

"Booth said that?" The thought made her irrationally happy.

"Oh yeah. Among other things." Gunn raised an eyebrow at her. "But anyway…I said that Booth saved my sanity. And he did." Shaking his head, he grimaced. "You know the FBI has a very old school tough guy attitude, right? Holdover from the days of Eliot Ness, I suppose."

"Yes. Anthropologically, the governmental hierarchy attached to law enforcement agencies is usually dominated by the most outgoing, biologically superior alpha males. The FBI is no exception. I suspect that is why Booth was revered among the other agents."

"Was revered? You mean  _is_  revered." Gunn didn't have to look to know Brennan wore a look of shock on her face.

"You  _knew_? You knew Booth was alive and you didn't  _tell me_?" Brennan pushed him from behind, her momentum so angry and unexpected that he actually stumbled a bit.

"Brennan! Calm down. I didn't know until you asked me about Eliphalet. I swear!" He dusted off his bruised pride at almost being taken out by a woman half his size and tried to calm her down. "Temperance. I promise you, I didn't know."

Still breathing heavy from indignation, Brennan glared back. "What does it mean? Eliphalet."

"The Remington rifle was designed by Eliphalet Remington."

Stunned, Brennan stopped walking. "Remington rifle. A gun. Gunn. Booth knew you would be around." Shaking with irritation, she clenched her hands into fists. "Did he also know there would be an attempt on his life? Did he know about this whole ruse? Again?"

"I don't think so, Doc. I really don't. Booth said that if something like this happened again he would tell you, and I think this is his way of doing that."

"But…you knew?"

"I knew something like this might happen, and so did Booth. A long time ago we worked out a system of clues to alert the other if there was danger; if we needed help, if we were involved in something that got us in over our heads…we tried to prepare for every eventuality."

"And your clue from Booth was your name."

"Yes. I knew as soon as you asked me about it that it was Booth trying to get to me. And now I have to ask…was this his first communication?" Gunn saw the flush on her cheeks and the guilt in her eyes and knew it wasn't.

"Alright then. How did he contact you?"

For the next half hour, Brennan relayed all of Booth's messages and their meanings, ignoring Gunn's chuckle at her choice of pig moniker. "Pigs are very clean animals, despite their reputations."

Smiling despite herself, Brennan felt relieved to be able to share the news of Booth's un-demise with someone else. "You said earlier that Booth saved your sanity."

Gunn nodded. "I told you we met at Quantico, which is true. But my dad…he was an Army Ranger. Served in Kosovo."

"Oh. Booth served under him?"

"Yeah. Quite the coincidence. We talked about how my dad was disappointed in me for not following in his footsteps…and for being gay. I hadn't spoken to my dad in almost ten years at that point, and Booth was a sympathetic ear. Someone who knew us both but wasn't in the position to judge. It was cathartic, in more ways than you can imagine." Gunn stopped and considered his next words. "A few weeks after my little revelation, we had a weekend off, and Booth disappeared for the entire two days. I just assumed that he met a woman and decided to spend the time off in bed." He had the grace to flush at her. "Sorry."

"Not at all."

"Anyway. When he came back Sunday night, he had a small cut on his eye, said he got it walking into a door when he was drunk. I didn't have any reason to doubt him, until two days later. When my dad called me, wanting to talk."

"Oh. Ohhh." Brennan shook her head. "That man…"

"Yeah. I met with Dad at a bar that night. He came in with a black eye, busted lip and a limp."

Brennan roared in amusement at the implication. "Oh no! He beat up your dad?" She bent at the waist, laughter shaking her frame. "Well, we definitely have something in common now!"

"Booth told me about the fight he had with your dad." Gunn laughed with her. "Said your old man got him good in the jewels, too."

Brennan stopped laughing and scrunched up her face. "The jewels?"

"Testicles."

This made Brennan laugh even harder. "I can't believe my dad…" She wiped her eyes and tried to control herself and get back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, you and your dad talked?"

Gunn smiled. "Yes. We had an honest, man-to-man talk and things got a little better after that."

"And that's why you owe your sanity to Booth?"

Gunn's eyes were distant. "Dad died three weeks later. Massive heart attack."

Tears sprung unbidden to Brennan's eyes as she touched his arm. "I am so sorry."

"Thanks. But yeah, that definitely saved my sanity. If Booth hadn't gotten my dad to call me, I would have never spoken to him again. He would have been gone and there wouldn't have been any chance for us to make amends. And for that, I will always be in Booth's debt. It's something I can never repay."

The partners walked in silence side by side along the sidewalk, both thinking of the ways they owed the man who brought them together, and how they were going to do everything in their power to help him now, when he needed them most.


	8. Chapter 8

Cam sat at the bar at Founding Fathers waiting for her companion, deep in thought. There were now times during the day when she would go for hours at a time without thinking about Seeley, and then suddenly the reality would hit her like a jab to the solar plexus and her eyes would begin to burn. She noticed that more often than not this happened whenever she spoke with Brennan.

She was not the maudlin type, and no one who knew her would ever call her a romantic, but Cam was steadfast in her belief that if there were ever two people who were true 'soul mates', it would be Booth and Brennan. Their total synchronicity, their yin and yang, their partnership in every sense of the word, was more solid, trusting and loving than any marriage Cam had ever witnessed. So seeing the empty look in Brennan's eyes before, during and after the funeral was like a physical ache to her. Aside from her own personal grief at losing one of her dearest friends, Cam felt Brennan's pain as well, and it was a dreadful burden. But one she shouldered readily, because she knew that Booth would never forgive her otherwise.

"Hi, Dr. Saroyan." Sweets slid onto the stool next to Cam, signaling to the bartender for a beer. "How are you? Everything okay at the lab?"

"Hi, Sweets. I'm okay. And yes, things are…improving, I guess. We were able to finally ID the latest victim and Agent Gunn is working on getting more information about him." Cam swirled her drink in her glass before taking another deep drink.

Sweets took a sip of his beer and considered what he was going to say. "And how is Agent Gunn working out with Dr. Brennan? Any trouble there?"

Cam smiled and shook her head. "Not at all, actually. They work very well together. I imagine it's because Gunn is very much like-" Swallowing thickly, the smile dropped off her face. "He's very much like Booth."

With a nod, Sweets continued. "I imagine that has made the transition easier for everyone."

"You would think so."

Considering his words carefully, the young psychologist looked at Cam in the mirror over the bar. "And how are  _you_  doing, Cam?"

Cam smiled tightly and shook her head. "I'm fine, Sweets. Really. I-"

"Really?"

A sigh. "No. Not really. I miss the hell out of him."

"Yeah." He sighed and turned towards Cam slightly. "I do, too. All the time. I never thought I would say this, but I would give anything to have someone make fun of my age right about now."

They both sat in silence through another drink each, trying to find words of comfort to share but coming up blank. Nothing anyone could say would make this any easier. They simply had to accept the fact that their friend was gone, and maybe try to find comfort in the quiet company and simple gestures of the friends they had left.

 

Gunn opened the door to his apartment and stood aside so Brennan could enter before him. "So, now that we know for sure that Booth is alive. The question is why is he hiding?"

Brennan nodded. "And where."

Gunn smiled as he removed his badge and gun from his belt, setting them on the coffee table. "Now that, my dear Temperance, is one thing we do know."

Brennan gasped. "You know where he is? How?"

"Like I told you, Doc…we made arrangements for every eventuality we could think of. Unless I miss my guess, our sweet little Seeley is safely ensconced in a crappy one-room apartment in Poughkeepsie, New York, watching his ridiculously talented Phillies beat up on the Mets and eating way too much take-out Chinese." Gunn waggled his eyebrows in a way that made Brennan grin, the action reminding her so much of Booth.

"Okay, I have to admit that you and Booth have taken a very rational course of action in order to stave off the danger of unknown variables in the execution of a very dangerous profession. I am impressed." Brennan smiled.

"Is that your squinty way of saying we done good, Doc?" Gunn was busying himself with something under the sink as he spoke.

"Squinty. Hmm. I haven't heard that in what seems like a long time. I didn't realize how much I missed it."

Pulling a metal box from its hiding place among the pipes, Gunn stood. "I'll remember that when I talk to Booth here in a little bit. He can call you his Sexy Squint Queen all you want."

"Excuse me?" Brennan gaped at him, eyes wide. "Sexy Squint Queen?"

Gunn had the grace to blush before he answered. "Uh…yeah. Booth sort of, well…"

"Wait a minute! What do you mean, when you talk to Booth in a while?"

Gunn breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they ended up saving Booth's ass, Booth was going to kick Gunn's when he found out he let slip Booth's drunken endearment for his partner. "Yes! Yeah!" Opening the lock box he had pulled from under the sink, Gunn removed a rather large black satellite phone. "With this. Booth and I are the only ones who have them, they were prototypes. Don't ask me how it works, it just does."

Brennan took the phone and turned it over in her hands, examining it closely. "I don't know much about this kind of technology, but don't you have to have some kind of service to use it?"

"Nope." He took the cell back and hit a button on the side, powering it up. "Something about bouncing towers, I'm not sure. Right now, the important thing is that it works."

"Can we call him now?" Brennan was eager to speak to Booth, almost ridiculously so.

"No. Not yet. We have to text him first, let him know to turn his on. We can't risk having them on for longer than fifteen minutes at a time because the batteries are not rechargeable and are irreplaceable, plus it's just safer that way."

"What about just calling the cell he's using to text me?"

"Not using a phone for that, Doc. Internet. We can route that signal all over the world if we want pretty easily, so that was how we came up with our message system. Texting is safer."

"Oh, that's smart. So do we get to come up with another text message?" Brennan looked way too excited at the prospect.

Gunn shook his head at her obvious thrill at the espionage aspect of all this. He made a mental note to give Booth crap about his woman being an adrenaline junkie, then answered her. "No, Booth and I already have an agreed-upon message to let us know to power up the phones." He took her phone, made a note of Booth's cloaked number, and then quickly typed a message on his own cell. He handed it to Brennan with a grin.

"'Ground control to Major Tom'? That makes no sense."

"It will to Booth." Hitting send, Gunn sat back and waited with a sigh. "Now, we just-" He stopped when his cell rang with an incoming message. He handed it back to Brennan. "What's it say?"

Brennan's forehead creased in confusion. "'Commencing countdown, engines on.' I don't know what that means."

"It means we can expect a call anytime now."

Just then, the satellite phone on the table rang shrilly. They looked at each other, and Gunn gestured to it. "Answer it, Doc."


	9. Chapter 9

With a shaking hand, Brennan picked up the satellite phone and hit the button. "H-hello?"

There was a short silence on the other end, then a slight scraping sound, followed by…

"Bones? Bones, is that you?" Brennan released a shuddering breath and sobbed into the phone. Up until this very moment, there was a still, small part of her that didn't really believe that Booth was alive, that this was all some elaborate joke designed to send her completely over the edge. But it was him.  _It was him…_

"Yes! Booth, it's me! Are you okay?" She tried to keep the emotion in her voice to a minimum, but she was just so relieved it poured out of her like a dam breaking. "Oh my God, Booth! What happened?"

There was more silence on the other end for a moment. "I'm okay now, Bones. I can't tell you-" He stopped, emotion choking his voice as well. "It's good to hear your voice, Bones."

She smiled at Gunn, and wondered if it were possible to be so happy you literally burst. Probably not. "Yours too, Booth. I-were you hurt in the explosion?"

On his end, Booth settled back into the ratty sofa he was stretched across, a huge smile crossing his face. "Just some small first and second degree burns, nothing major. I'm really fine, honest. Especially now. How is Parker?" His voice cracked slightly, knowing that his son was probably brokenhearted and it was his entire fault.

Brennan paused. What do you say in this situation? "Well, at first he wasn't doing so well. But now, he's better. I saw him yesterday and we talked about you for a bit. He's okay, Booth. But he'll be better when you're home again."

"Thanks, Bones."  _God, he loved this woman._  "Thank you for taking care of my son."

"You're welcome." She glanced at Gunn, who was motioning for the phone. "Sorry, Booth…someone else wants to talk with you."

Gunn grabbed the phone and skimmed over the pleasantries. "Seeley baby, what do you need us to do?"

"Shut the hell up, Dick. Listen, the body at the lab…"

"Yeah, we know its Robert's aide. How did you know?"

"I suspected the kid was dead when I brought Roberts in the week before all this blew up. Literally. He's a smarmy, entitled bastard but he's also stupid as hell. He was tipping his hand all over the interrogation room. His lawyer tried to get him out of there as quick as he could because even he could see the man was developing flop sweats." Booth sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Did Bones get anything off the body?"

"Whoa, hold up there, Kemosabe. You didn't answer my question. How did you know about the body in the lab?" Gunn waited, listening to Booth breathing into the phone.

"How do you think we got those phones in the first place?"

"You never told me, remember? You just sent it to me a few years ago, no explanation. Why, Booth? Who gave you the phones?" Gunn was almost yelling at him by now.

Sighing again, Booth relented. "Let's just say someone with more money than God and more paranoia than Oliver Stone."

"Holy shit, Seeley! You let a squint in on your plans before me? Are you out of your fucking mind?" Gunn was flabbergasted. Brennan, for her part, was simply confused.

"What? He told me before he told you, so? You knew that already."

Gunn growled into the phone. "Here, you tell her!"

Brennan grabbed the phone again. "Booth? What is Richard talking about? What's going on?"

"Bones, you have to understand that to set this up I needed unlimited resources  _and_  someone who could get their hands on advanced technology without tipping anyone off. And while I trust you with my life and I know you would give me anything I needed, you didn't have access to equipment like the phone your holding." Taking a breath, Booth came clean. "Hodgins did."

Gunn was fascinated by the changing expressions on his partner's face as Booth explained how Hodgins got involved in Booth's emergency situation preparations. First shock, then dismay, finally interest. Gunn couldn't believe that Brennan wasn't going off on Booth for letting the bug man in on his secret while she mourned him. But her voice stayed even and calm and her eyes never left Gunn's.  _This woman is amazing. Booth is a very lucky man._

Finally, Brennan turned the phone back over to Gunn after bidding Booth goodbye. "Everything straightened out, Booth?"

"I hope so, man. But you guys need to start looking into the financials for Roberts, he's the key. And…you can't go through the Bureau."

"And why is that?"

"Because someone tipped them off that we would be at the warehouse. And besides the team and Bones, the only other person who knew we were going to be there was…"

"Hacker."

"Yeah. Him."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

"What?" Brennan prodded. "What about Andrew?"

Gunn studied Brennan closely. "Are you still dating Hacker?"

Brennan flushed and glanced at the phone. "No. Not for months." Gunn heard Booth huff in derision.

"Good. Did you part amicably?"

"I suppose…" Brennan replied. "Why?"

"No!" Booth yelled into Gunn's ear. "She is not getting close to that jackass just to get information! It's too dangerous!"

"Tell him I can hear him yelling. And that his fifteen minutes are up." Brennan stood up and began to pace. "Unbelievable. Hundreds of miles away and still a controlling alpha male-"

"She knows I am only trying to protect her! Why can't she see that if Hacker is involved in this that she could be in danger?" Booth was trying to overtalk Brennan in Gunn's painfully throbbing ear.

"Protect me? How? You're in New York! And if the only way we can help your stubborn ass is for me to get close to Andrew again, then-"

"Enough! Both of you!" Gunn put a stop to what was rapidly turning into a full-blown Booth and Brennan Patented Bickering Session before his headache got any worse. "Just…be quiet for a minute and let me think. I swear I cannot believe you two are not having sex. It's like being a kid stuck in the middle of his parents' fighting. Ugh!"

Brennan rolled her eyes at Gunn as she thumped back down into her chair, and Booth muttered to himself on the other end of the phone. "Great. Blessed silence. Thank you, children. Now, Temperance is right, our time is up, Booth. Let me and the good doc do some investigating, get with Hodgins, and we'll get back in contact with you tomorrow night. Six o'clock. Sound good, Seel?"

"Yeah, man. And seriously, thanks. I can't ever repay you for doing this…and for keeping her safe. I-I just appreciate it." Booth paused, then spoke in a rush. "Can I talk to Bones one more time?"

Grinning again, Gunn said his goodbyes, handed Brennan the phone, and left the room.

"Booth? I'm sorry."

"Me too, Bones. You know I know you can take care of yourself. I just…"

"It drives you crazy that you can't be here to take care of things yourself. I know, Booth."

"I miss you, Bones."

"I miss you too, Booth."

"Talk tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Goodnight, Bones. Sleep well."

"You too, Booth. Goodnight."

They both hung up at the same time, the same sad expression on their faces.

Gunn came back in the room and sat down on the sofa. He patted the cushion next to him, gesturing to Brennan to join him. When she was seated comfortably, Gunn pulled no punches.

"So tell me, Temperance…how long have you been in love with Seeley?"


	10. Chapter 10

_Gunn came back in the room and sat down on the sofa. He patted the cushion next to him, gesturing to Brennan to join him. When she was seated comfortably, Gunn pulled no punches._

" _So tell me, Temperance…how long have you been in love with Seeley?"_

"What?" Brennan resembled what Gunn could only describe as a deer caught in headlights.

"You heard me, Doc." Gunn wasn't going to back down from this discussion, no matter how hard Brennan backpedaled.

She tried to stand, but Gunn placed a gentle hand on her knee. "Temperance. C'mon. You are a woman who holds truth above all else, and you're going to try to duck it now?"

"I'm not ducking anything! I just don't think I know you well enough to have this discussion with you!"

"You know me better than most of my friends. Hell, I know you almost as well as I know Erik, and we've been dating for six months."

"It's impossible to know someone that well in such a short amount of time. Your hypothesis is flawed." Brennan dug in her heels and grabbed onto her anthropological reasoning for all she was worth.

Gunn laughed a bit and released his hold on her. "Ducking again, Doc. Look, I know you love Booth, I know Booth loves you…and yet no matter how completely connected in every other way the two of you are, there is a disconnect between you when it comes to the most important aspect of your relationship. If you should have learned anything from the last month or so, it should be that life is damn short. You shouldn't spend it on the fence. And Temperance….you need to jump that fence for him. I can see it in your eyes when you think about him, I can hear it in his voice when he tells me some cute story about you, I can feel it in the air whenever either of you are talking about the other. What you have is too damn special to ignore, and you're both incredibly stupid for letting it go this far!"

Brennan ignored the tears streaking down her face and turned to Gunn. "Are you done?"

"For now." He waited for Brennan to verbally pummel him, but what she said next was definitely not what he expected.

"Good. What makes you think Booth and I haven't already discussed this?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? You-no. I refuse to believe that the two of you put your heads together and came up with this whole 'just partners' dance as acceptable. Just didn't happen." Gunn was stunned.

Sitting back down beside him, Brennan decided to ignore Booth's "what's between us is ours" directive and gave Gunn a detailed account of that night in Sweets' office all those months ago, from the moment they stepped into the office until Booth dropped her off at her apartment much later.

Gaping, Gunn immediately began to pick apart both of their arguments. "Temperance Brennan, where in the world did you get the idea that you don't have an open heart?"

"I-"

"No. It's my turn, as a disinterested but well-informed third party, to show you exactly what you both did wrong that night. Starting with your erroneous assumption that you don't have it in you to love Booth for as long as you both live." He leaned back into the sofa and crossed his arms.

Brennan shook her head. "No. While I admit that you know Booth quite well, you and I have only been acquainted for a few months. You have no idea what my heart is capable of."

"Why did you tell Booth that you couldn't give it a try?"

"Because I didn't want him to be hurt. And I would end up hurting him. I don't have the ability to change who I am in that way."

Rolling his eyes, Gunn leaned forward. "So what you're saying is that in order to protect him, you sacrificed what may have the potential to make you happy in order to ensure his happiness. Correct?"

"Essentially, yes."

"And in order to do that, you believe you have to close your heart off, to do what is best for Seeley."

"Yes."

"And how did you expect to close a heart that was never really open to begin with?"

Brennan stared in shock. "I…I despise psychology."

"You only despise it when it exposes the 'you' you hide from the world."

"You…no! That's not true! It's an inexact science, it relies on conjecture and-"

"No, it doesn't. But I'll refute that claim later. And that's not why you hate psychology, anyway." Leaning back again, Gunn began to really warm up to the discussion. "You have wrapped yourself in what you believe is this impenetrable cloak of science and reason and truth, when what you've really done is try to wall yourself away from really having to feel anything, because then you're never really hurt. Some might find that selfish, because you're depriving those who care about you the courtesy of knowing the real you, but I don't see it that way."

"You don't?" Her voice was quiet.

"No. Let me ask you something, Doc. The last time Booth "died", what is the first thing you would change about that situation?"

"I would want Pam Noonan to have never fired her gun."

"Exactly. Do you hate Pam?"

"No, of course not. She was very troubled."

"Do you blame Booth for jumping in front of her bullet?"

"No, I never did."

"Do you regret killing her?"

"Every day of my life."

Brennan blinked. Gunn smiled.

"Now. I have another question."

"Alright." Resigned and a little shell-shocked, she leaned back on the sofa with him, shoulders brushing.

"Where did you learn what a true partner is?"

She turned her head. "Booth, of course."

"And where, do you suppose, he learned what a partner is?"

Brennan stopped to think. "I assume from having other partners at the Bureau…"

Now it was Gunn's turn to blink. "He never told you?"

"What?"

"He worked alone before he met you. Always wanted to rely on himself, never really trusted anyone else. You, my friend, are the only true partner that Seeley Booth has ever had."

"That can't be true."

"Oh, but it is. Even in the Army, with a spotter, he was always the ranking officer. You can't partner with someone when you aren't on even ground, and a subordinate is definitely not on even ground, especially in the military. He worked well with them, made friends with them, they meant something to him. But a true, symbiotic, give-and-take partner? All and only you, baby."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Brennan took in everything Gunn had revealed.

"I'm confused." She said.

"Color me surprised."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means I knew this was coming. What has you confused?" Gunn smiled.

Brennan turned to Gunn, pulling her legs up to sit Indian-style and leaned against the arm rest. "If I was Booth's first real partner, how did he know what it took to make a good partnership work?"

"And she finally gets to my point." Gunn rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Well?"

He was loving this. "He didn't. He's been winging it this whole time." The declaration went over exactly as Gunn expected.


	11. Chapter 11

"What do you mean, winging it?" She whispered.

Brennan's head was spinning as her incredibly quick mind tried desperately to process everything Gunn was sharing with her. Until this moment, she thought that she knew Booth better than almost anyone, even Cam. But as her current partner continued, she began to realize that Booth was always holding a part of him back, an essential part that made him who he was. And the man in front of her was holding the key to her discovery of those secrets…secrets she was desperate to know.

Sighing, Gunn continued. "Booth never knew what having a true partner was like. Ever. Sure, he knew how to get along with his co-workers, fellow soldiers and even teammates in high school and college. But he has always been the guy in charge, the big man on campus, the alpha male, as you put it. In those relationships, he took the dominant position. In contrast, his important personal relationships with women were always the complete opposite. Rebecca led him around by his nose, always calling the shots, always making sure she had one hand on his heart and one foot on his neck."

Brennan gave a disbelieving snort. "I cannot picture Booth as the submissive in any relationship with a woman."

"Of course  _you_  can't, Doc. Even Tessa, she might not have been very secure in their relationship, but she did make the rules and Seeley always followed them. Cam doesn't really factor in because they were always friends with benefits, which created a different dynamic. But Cam is a pretty strong personality, and I have no doubt that had they tried to make a real go of it, the same thing would have happened." Gunn took a long breath in and thought for a moment.

"But you…you're different from every other relationship Booth has ever had or will ever have. Yes, you are a strong, self-reliant woman. That's what he is innately attracted to, so that's no surprise. But you also have an incredibly soft, incredibly sympathetic, incredibly intuitive side that speaks to something he has buried so deep he didn't even know it was there. He may have allowed himself to be the submissive in his personal relationships, and I think we both know where that comes from in his past, but when he sees you show your vulnerability…the young boy who stood in front of his baby brother and took his father's beatings in his place comes roaring back to the surface, and it's always been the best part of him. Balance that with this hidden part, the same boy, scared and alone, afraid to show the rest of the world what his life was really like because he was terrified that they would reject him, think less of him. The selfless, self-sacrificing, fiercely protective Seeley Booth found Temperance Brennan, just as broken and alone and strong and good, a woman who allowed him to be a man but never thought less of him when he reverted back to that scared, lonely boy, a kindred spirit who allowed him to be vulnerable without losing any part of his true self. That is why he is attracted to you. The real you. Because you and only you have allowed Booth to be the person he always had the potential to be. And I suspect that he has done the same thing for you."

Brennan wiped the tears from her face and shook her head. "What does this have to do with his knowledge of partnerships?"

Gunn ignored the fact that she didn't bother to refute anything he had just revealed. What he secretly called his "inner Angela" did a little money-maker shake in celebration of the obvious headway he was making, but he had yet to go in for the kill, so to speak.

"Like I said, you are the first real partnership Booth has ever been a part of. When you defer to him on a matter that is 'partner-like', it's like the blind leading the blind."

"I don't know what-oh. I understand. So I've been listening to him on this topic all this time, and he was bluffing me?"

Gunn tapped his chin in thought. "No, not really. Not intentionally, anyway. I don't believe that he realizes how much of your dynamic he improvises."

Brennan was struggling mightily with so many different emotions at once that she was having a hard time grasping Gunn's meaning. "I want to understand, I do. But I am just…overwhelmed, I guess. Please. Help me understand."

Her quiet plea was his undoing. Up until this point, Gunn was resolute in his goal to get Brennan to see that everything Booth had offered her, she was equally capable of giving back. But he could almost feel the sensory overload coming off her in waves, so he grasped her hand and began rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "Let's order some dinner and take a break. Okay? I have a little more to explain, and I think we could both use some time to decompress before we get to the hard part."

Sniffing and laughing at the same time, Brennan regarded him with wide eyes. "That  _wasn't_  the hard part?"

"Oh, Doc…we're just getting started."

 

After amazing Brennan by putting away more Thai food in one sitting than she had ever seen the bottomless pit that was Booth consume in a week, Gunn settled back and prepared to finish the discussion.

"Okay. You remember where we left off?"

"Of course. You were going to explain how Booth misled me on his expertise on partnerships."

Oooh. This wasn't good. She was reverting back to her overly precise way of speaking, and taking his words at their most literal. He sighed and shook his head.

"Brennan, he has never misled you. He was simply misinformed himself. Nothing in his experience had ever prepared him for being a partner. Specifically  _your_  partner. And yes, sometimes he was groping for the right thing to do, and I'm sure he stumbled quite a bit." She laughed at that statement, recalling a few times where Booth seemed to be trying to infuriate her with his ineptitude. "Yeah, I suspected as much. But the thing about Booth is that he always learns from his mistakes with you. I'm sure he gave off his usual air of competence and authority, but inside he was always looking to you and your complete trust in him to lead him in the right direction. I mean, c'mon….someone who always needs scientific, tangible proof in order to make a judgment on anything believed in Booth almost from day one. Even that first case that ended so badly for the two of you, you didn't mistrust him. And he used that to guide him as well. That was never the problem."

"No." Brennan murmured. "Trusting Booth has always been innate, and I've never understood why."

"You wouldn't, because it's not something you can quantify. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and you know that to be true because you do trust him implicitly. And he has always felt the same way about you. The fact that you returned that trust, especially being as tentative about interpersonal relationships as you are? It saved him. Figuratively, but sometimes literally. Even as the pull of who you are and what you two could be was slowly killing him."

"What?" Brennan's voice was almost non-existent. "I never intended…"

"And he never blamed you. He always took total responsibility for the consequences of loving you, and even now he wouldn't want to burden you with it. But there is one story I do need to tell you, beyond all this crap with partners and love and trust and hope…a story that perfectly illustrates just how long Seeley's happiness and peace of mind has been completely dependent on you."

Brennan blanched at the thought that something else she had done or said had caused Booth even a moment of pain. In her more introspective moments, she realized deep down that she agreed with what Gunn had said earlier, that in trying to avoid hurting Booth she had done exactly that, but she always fooled herself into thinking that as long as they stayed friends and partners that they both would eventually be happier in the end. And now, knowing that she had completely misread not only the situation but herself as well, she wanted to crawl into her bed, throw the covers over herself and never come out again. And if it were anyone else they were talking about, she might have. But she owed Booth so much, and if she had to endure more emotional upheaval in order to right whatever wrongs she had brought to him, she was perfectly okay with that. It was the very least he deserved.

"Okay. Tell me."


	12. Chapter 12

"Before I tell you this story, I want you to understand something, okay Doc?" Gunn moved from his seat on the sofa to the coffee table in front of Brennan, leaning forward to engage her eyes.

"Of course." Brennan's hands were shaking uncontrollably in her lap. At the best of times, she was terrified of facing emotional revelations, but this…. This was about Booth, which was making her skate the edge of a panic attack knowing in her heart that with him, it meant so much more than any innate fear or doubt she would ever have. She needed to focus on what Richard was telling her, because as irrational as it sounded to her own ears, her whole life's happiness might depend on it.

"You know about the gambling, right?" At Brennan's tight nod, he continued. "Well, I had similar problem years ago and because I stopped before Booth did I sort of became his sponsor. We both had local people, because I was assigned to the Jersey office at the time, but we were always a phone call away from each other. And honestly, Booth never actually called me unless it was really, really bad."

"Has-has he called you often?"

"Three times. Voluntarily, anyway. You have to understand, being a gambler is a personality tic. And if anyone knows how hard it is to adjust your personality…"

Brennan nodded again, gesturing for him to continue.

"Anyway, Seeley is the strongest man I've ever known, but he had two weaknesses. Gambling and Parker. And even the latter couldn't curb the former, so knowing how he feels about his son should give you some idea of the hold it had on him. But six years ago, out of the blue…he just stopped. Stopped dead. He would never tell me or anyone else why, but I can tell you that it was right after he solved that first case with you."

"He told me…that night, the night we almost…" Brennan gulped. "He said he had a problem, but that he was working on it."

"And he was. As far as I know, he didn't set foot in another casino until that case you two had in Vegas." At Brennan's surprised look, he nodded. "He called me a couple of times at night while you were there. Despite his calm demeanor, he was pretty freaked out about it. But he made it, and as usual you two solved the case. I think that always helped him curb the itch as well. The goal of delivering justice. With you."

"I'm glad that he had you."

"Doc, he had both of us. But that wasn't the last time he faltered. Most of the time, he would just call me, let me know it was bad…we'd talk and he'd be okay. But one night, about four years ago, one of our mutual buddies with the local PD in Atlantic City called me, said he had recognized Booth sitting at a craps table at Harrah's, winning more than he was losing and drinking soda."

"Soda? So he wasn't drunk and that's bad?" Brennan was confused.

"Yes, that's worse, actually. When Seeley was determined to really buckle down and spend some money, he liked to be clear headed. Had he been drinking scotch, I wouldn't have been as worried. In any case, I headed up there and joined him at the table. He was…the only word I can think of to describe him is  _defeated._  He had a huge stack of chips in front of him and he couldn't have looked less thrilled about the fact. Eventually I talked him into cashing out, but only after he caught me a good one on the right cheek. Security was nice enough to help me escort him to his car." Gunn leaned forward and took Brennan's still-shaking hands in his much larger ones. "Here's where it gets deep, Doc. I drove, and all the way back to DC he's telling me about some fellow agent, how great a guy he was, what a decent boyfriend he made…I honestly thought for a minute that he had decided to come out of the closet, he was talking the guy up so much."

Brennan smiled a little. "I know what that means."

"Yeah. And much to my consternation, I have to admit. Turns out, he was only mourning the fact that the woman he was desperately in love with was considering sailing off into the sunset with this guy."

The gasp that came from Brennan was so heart wrenching, Gunn considered cutting the story short. But he knew that she needed to know, even if it meant breaking his best friend's trust.

"He…no. He wasn't in love with me. He couldn't have been, he  _told me to go with Sully!_  Why would he do that? Why?" Brennan face was pale and her eyes watery, but she held Gunn's gaze admirably.

"He says he told you to go because he loved you so much that he just wanted you to be happy. Me, personally, I think that's bullshit…but I'm not much of a romantic. So, he confesses his love for his partner and then starts to wallow all the way back here. Made me want to smack him, to be honest. I mean, it's like I said…Booth is a strong man, how is he letting a woman bring him to his knees like this? Of course, now that I've met you I have some idea, but Temperance…he was a mess. He didn't know if you were leaving the next morning or not, he only knew that he had let you go. One way or the other."

"Obviously, I didn't go."

"Obviously." Gunn gave her an ironic smile. "I spent the rest of the trip talking him into at least saying goodbye to you, although I tried to get him to be honest about his feelings for you as well. He finally relented to talking to you, almost at the last minute. I got him home around 6 AM and managed to talk him into a shower to get the casino smell off him, got him into a suit and told him to get to the docks and find you. So that's what he did."

"Oh, my God." Brennan shook her head. "He had been at a casino all night long before he showed up there? I never would have guessed, he looked so…I don't know, put together? He didn't look any different than he always did." Brennan sighed. "He said he came to say goodbye, and to take me to breakfast."

"And he was telling you the truth. Look, Brennan, that man was terrified of losing you, but more terrified of admitting it. Everything he had made himself into was tied up into one thing…Temperance Brennan. And yes, he brushed it off and even told Sully at one point that he wasn't interested in you…"

"He did?" Brennan gaped.

"Oh yeah. Sully asked him for advice on how to get you into bed. Booth refused, of course, but Sully wasn't as stupid as his leaving you suggested, because he picked up on Booth's feelings and called him on it. Booth denied everything, which at that point had become your standard line, right? Just partners?"

"Uh huh…" Brennan was overwhelmed and her head was spinning. Normally she would be in a blind panic at the information Gunn imparted, but she couldn't even process a complicated emotion like panic right now. Between finding out that Booth was alive and now being inundated with all these deep, emotional revelations about him she was feeling off balance.

"Look, I think I've said enough tonight. You look like you need to get some sleep so I am going to make up the guest room and you're going to sleep here. Tomorrow, we'll get to the lab early and start trying to find a way to bring Booth home. Okay?" Brennan could only nod, so Gunn stood and headed out of the room.

Brennan leaned back on the sofa and sighed heavily. She wanted to really think about everything Gunn had shared with her tonight because she realized how much it had cost him to break Booth's trust, but all she could really focus on was that despite every single defense mechanism she had spent 18 years building, every wall constructed around her heart, every cell in her body fighting against love….all those roadblocks were obliterated by a man who 'knew'. Simply knew.


	13. Chapter 13

The first indication to Gunn that it was morning was the incessant pounding on his apartment door. He groaned, wanting to ignore the noise for as long as possible, until he remembered his guest in the other bedroom. He sat up and started to get out of bed when he heard Brennan speaking to someone out in the living room.

Making his way down the hall, he smiled when he saw who Brennan had let in.

"Well, good morning!" Erik grinned at Gunn, giving him a quick kiss as he passed to start the coffeemaker. "I told Temperance that I thought you had switched sides when she answered the door in one of your shirts."

Laughing, Brennan nodded. "I told him you were too scared of me to hit on me. For some reason, he believed me."

Shaking his head, Gunn grabbed coffee mugs out of the cupboard. "I don't know what it is about you two, but you're trouble when you get together. I knew I never should have introduced you."

Erik sat next to Brennan, patting her knee. "I can't resist her. She is hilarious."

"Are we talking about the same woman? Temperance Brennan?"

"Be nice, Richard. Or we won't let you have lunch with us. We are having lunch, aren't we?" Erik raised his eyebrows at Brennan.

Standing, she shook her head. "I wish I could, Erik. But we have an active case that's really important and I have to stay at the lab today. But I will definitely take you up on lunch next week. Okay?"

"Fair enough. Now go get ready. If I'm gone when you're done, have a good day."

"You too, Erik." Brennan smiled at both men and headed off to shower.

When she was gone, Erik turned to Gunn. "Well?"

"This case is kicking our asses. She was here last night going over our notes and it got late."

"Uh huh. You'll tell me eventually. So, do you have time for lunch?"

"I'll let you know."

 

Gunn and Brennan entered the lab an hour later, striding purposely towards her office. When Gunn saw Hodgins was standing on the platform alone, he whistled at the bug man and pointed to Brennan's door. They entered her office and Brennan stood to the side as Gunn expertly swept the room for bugs and cameras. Once he gave the all clear, Brennan waved Hodgins in and closed the door behind him.

Gunn took one of the chairs in front of Brennan's desk and gestured Hodgins to take the other. Once Brennan was seated behind her desk, Gunn regarded the other scientist.

"I am supposed to tell you 'diplura'."

Hodgins grinned at Gunn, nodding. "The only order of insect that regenerates. Excellent." He looked at Brennan warily. "Dr. B, I-"

"Thank you, Jack. You saved his life. Please don't apologize." Both nodded, silently agreeing to move on.

Gunn clapped his hands together. "Great, that's settled. Now, we have to get our friend out of his cocoon. Any movement on those particulates, Hodgins?"

"Yeah, actually. I found small traces of L _arrea tridentate,_  or a creosote bush, on the slacks of the victim, as well as crushed  _alpinia pulcherrima_  leaves in the cuffs." Hodgins looked overly excited, even more than he usually did when talking particulates.

"I don't know what that means." Gunn smiled at Brennan, delighted by her eye-rolling reaction to his use of her personal catchphrase.

Hodgins rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "I might have just broken this case, actually.  _Alpinia pulcherrima_ is the proper name for a bird-of-paradise…Mexican bird-of-paradise, to be precise. It's a tropical-climate plant, almost unheard of in this part of the country."

Brennan nodded. "And creosote bushes are native to warm weather as well."

Gunn's eyes widened. "Like…say, Arizona?"

Hodgins bounced in his seat like a two year-old. "Exactly."

"And who do we know that might have those two particular plants on his property here in decidedly-cooler DC?" Gunn began to stand up in anticipation.

"I don't know…a senator from Arizona with an expansive greenhouse enclosure attached to his home here?" By now Hodgins had stood as well, barely containing his excitement.

"I'll call Caroline."

 

"QVC…uh, no. Hallmark Channel, yuck. Oxygen, I don't think so. Ooooh, ESPN Classic. There ya go." Booth muttered to himself as he flipped channels idly. For most people a month and a half of sitting around doing nothing might sound like a vacation, but to him it was pure torture. He was beginning to see why Bones held such a dislike for television. He'd become addicted to some forensics drama on Thursday nights for awhile, but it got to the point that when the two main protagonists, a man and a woman, bantered back and forth it reminded him so much of his and Bones interactions that it physically ached to continue watching. And Survivor just pissed him off.  _'Reality show, my ass.'_  He thought.  _'In reality, all those morons would be dead by now.'_  So he was avoiding network TV in favor of something equally mind-numbing to distract himself. The replay of the 2005 NFC Championship game, eventually won by Philadelphia, seemed to be doing the trick.

His thoughts didn't stay in one place for long, however. As usual, he began thinking about his son. Looking at the clock, he wondered what Parker was doing at that moment. Probably already in bed, he decided. He missed him so much it hurt, but the idea that Parker might be targeted if Senator Roberts or any of his accomplices knew Booth was alive was enough to reinforce his belief that in the long run he was doing the right thing.

' _And that's you all over, isn't it Seeley? Always doing the right thing, even to your own detriment.'_ It irritated Booth to no end when Gunn's voice popped into his head at his most introspective moments. Especially when he knew that his friend was right.  _'Damn him.'_

Booth hauled himself off the sofa and headed for the small efficiency kitchen off the living room. He had been judicious in how often he went out for groceries, only venturing out when it was absolutely necessary, so his choices were decidedly limited. Grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, he contemplated his options.

"Canned vegetable soup, it is." He muttered, pulling the tab on the can and dumping the contents into a microwave-safe bowl. As he watched the container spin in the microwave, he decided that if he were here any longer he was going to have to buy some actual vegetables and make himself a salad.  _'Oh, Bones would love that.'_  He thought. As if his mind conjured her up on command, his computer pinged, signaling an incoming text message. He wiggled the mouse to get rid of the screen saver, and a relieved, excited grin split his face as he read the three simple words displayed on the screen.

**Come home, Booth.**


	14. Chapter 14

Jack Hodgins let himself in the back door of the lavish condo he shared with his wife. Listening intently, he heard the soft lilt of the television coming from the sitting room, so he toed off his shoes and headed down the hallway, trying to sneak up on her as she sat on the large sectional in front of the entertainment center.

"Quit sneaking, I can hear you, Mr. Bull in a China Shop." He could hear the smile in her voice as he leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed her neck.

"You have ears like a dolphin." Hodgins walked around and plopped himself next to Angela, grabbing her feet to hold them in his lap.

"Dolphins have good hearing?"

"Best in the animal world, baby."

Casting him a sidelong glance, she nodded. "Good to know."

They sat in companionable silence for several minutes, watching the end of the classic movie Angela had been watching when he came in. Finally, she couldn't wait for him any longer.

"What's wrong, Jack?"

Hodgins laughed softly, still rubbing her feet absently. "You freak me out when you do that, you know."

"I know. That's why I love to do it." She pulled her feet off his lap and sat up. "Now tell me."

"It's not anything wrong, really. In fact, it's something that is very much right. But I have to start from the beginning. Okay?"

"Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere."

"And thank God for that." He leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "Here we go….about two years ago, Booth called me and asked to meet at a bar on the North side, away from pretty much anything. When I got there, he was sitting in the back in a dark booth, nursing a beer. Once I got seated and ordered my drink, he just started right off with this story about how he had a friend from the Academy with whom he devised a plan to set up a safe house and system of protection in case something came up with a suspect or someone either of them had arrested, and that he needed my help to, as he put it, 'fine tune' some of the details."

"Really. Booth came to you for help? I find that…"

"Out of character, bizarre, crazy? Nothing I didn't think myself, babe." They both smiled as Hodgins continued. "Anyway, Booth made no secret of the fact that there were three reasons he came to me. One, because I had the money and resources. Two, because I am more paranoid than anyone he's ever met. And three…" He stopped for a moment, an expression crossing his face that Angela couldn't place.

"What, Jack? What was the third reason?"

"Because he trusted me more than anyone at the Bureau and almost as much as Brennan."

"Wow."

"Yeah. So, of course, I was going to do anything I could for him. I mean, we're talking about a man who trusts no one but his own gut and his Bones. You don't turn away from that kind of faith, you know? So anyway, he wanted access to some cell phone technology that's very CIA and a few other things I didn't have any trouble getting my hands on and that's how it started."

"Started?" Angela studied his face closely. "Hodgins. Tell me what the hell is going on. Now."

Sighing, Jack settled back and continued. "About 5 hours after that warehouse blew up, I got a text message. All it said was 'opossum'. That was the code word we agreed upon if something happened where whatever emergency preparations Booth and his friend had put in place were necessary."

Angela's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Why opossum?"

"Because they play dead, Ang."

Jack watched fascinated in a strange way, as she finally caught up with the truth of what he was telling her. Tears immediately sprang to her eyes.

"Oh God, Jack! Booth is  _alive_? Does Bren know?"

"She does. She's known for about four days. Booth sent her texts from a secure internet connection, and once she figured them out she went to Gunn, and they contacted Booth."

"Gunn knows too?"

Hodgins smirked. "Who do you think Booth's friend at the Academy was? He didn't know until after Brennan did, but he's been all over it ever since. Gunn was the one who had the other phone that matched Booth's. He let Brennan talk to Booth last night."

Angela let her head fall back against the sofa and let out a soft sob. "Thank God. I just-just thank God he's not dead. But-wait. Should you be telling me this? Is Booth still in danger?"

"No, we've finished the case. Senator Roberts folded like a cheap suit and gave up everyone he was affiliated with. Imagine that, an elaborate smuggling operation covered by Roberts UN connections that took over a decade to set up and ended up claiming the lives of countless innocent people including two FBI agents…and he gave it all up to Gunn, including evidence, in just less than two hours. And now…Booth can come back."

"I hate to sound like a broken record…but thank God. I can't even imagine how Parker is going to react when he finds out his dad is alive. That poor kid has been through so much…" Angela swiped at a stray tear.

"I know, and Brennan…man. I knew she was tough as nails, but I really thought this was going to finish her at first. I mean, she came up big with her support of Parker like I knew she would, but this just had to be killing her, you know? Maybe now they'll both see what's right in front of them." Hodgins leaned over to kiss Angela, smiling softly.

"Yeah, especially now that Mary is out of the picture."

"Oh, damn." Hodgins winced. "I forgot all about Mary."


	15. Chapter 15

Brennan unlocked the door to her apartment and unceremoniously dropped her bag next to the closet. She took off her shoes and plopped onto her couch, sighing in discontent. Just knowing that they had solved the case, caught the bad guy and freed Booth from his self-imposed prison should have been enough to calm her, but something was still off.

She wanted to spend the next two days sleeping, but knowing that Booth would be back either tomorrow or the next day made her re-evaluate her priorities. Because of the talking-to she had received from Gunn, she had been doing a lot of thinking about what she thought Booth really wanted and what she thought she was capable of giving him. Because no one else was around, she allowed herself to think about what a real relationship would be like with Booth, and a smile crept across her face. She knew he would be a powerful, physically gifted lover just from his superior musculature…but she imagined that he was probably generous and giving in bed as well, if his personality and innately good nature were anything to judge by. Shaking the thoughts from her head for the time being, she rose from the couch and headed in to get ready for bed.

A door creaked, sounding like a firecracker in the silent apartment. The Seth Thomas ticking on the mantle showed that it was just after 4 AM as a large, dark figure tiptoed across the hardwood floor. The hallway was lit with soft light, making the slightly open bedroom door easily discernable in the pre-dawn darkness.

Brennan lay on her stomach, one hand under the pillow the other flung to her side, hanging off the side of the bed. Her even breathing indicated a deep sleep, so when her eyes suddenly opened, it was completely unexpected.

"Booth?"

He moved from where he was crouched at the side of the bed and sat down next to her. "Hey, Bones."

Brennan raised her arm and slowly stroked his cheek, eyes still half-closed but shining with something Booth couldn't identify. Sighing lightly, she lifted the sheet and moved over to the other side of the bed. Booth pulled off his shoes and climbed in, his eyes never leaving hers as he settled in next to her.

For long moments, they simply took each other in, both understanding that everything needed to be verbalized, but nothing needed to be said. What could have been seconds, minutes or hours later, their eyes began to slip shut and they both fell into a kind of peaceful sleep that few experience after childhood.


	16. Chapter 16

When Booth opened his eyes the next morning, he was afraid that the whole thing had been a dream. The he smelled something familiar….something….delicious.  _Pancakes._  He tried to launch himself out of the bed and got tangled in the sheets on his way up, sending him sprawling across the floor. He lay there for a moment, taking a mental evaluation of his limbs to make sure nothing was broken, when he heard a soft laugh. He looked up into the sparkling, amused eyes of his partner.

"Yeah, yeah…laugh it up, Bones." Booth pulled himself up to a sitting position, mock-glaring at Brennan as she barely held back a full-on laugh. "In case you were wondering, I'm not hurt."

Chuckling, Brennan offered him her hand. "Yes, I can see that. Come on, you big baby. I made breakfast."

Booth waved her hand off and stood on his own. "Pancakes! You're the best, Bones. Oh God, I missed food cooked in something other than a microwave!"

Still smiling, Brennan led him from the bedroom and into the kitchen. "I noticed that you look as though you've lost a little weight. What have you been eating?"

"Mostly stuff that comes in a can. It was easier to shop for quickly." Booth took a seat at her kitchen counter. "I tried to go outside as little possible."

Nodding, Brennan flipped the last of the pancakes out of the pan and grabbed another plate, this one loaded with bacon, eggs and sausage. Blushing, she set everything on the counter. "I know it looks like a lot, but…well, I thought you might like a home-cooked meal after being away so long."

Booth gave her a grateful smile, wasting no time in digging in to the hearty breakfast. Brennan watched him closely, her inner anthropologist cataloging everything about his movements, appearance and demeanor. Outwardly, he looked a little pale and he had definitely lost weight. And while the ordeal had certainly not affected his appetite, there  _was_  something…something Brennan couldn't pinpoint from just looking at him. As if something was missing, something vital. This was one of the many times that she cursed her lack of intuitive people skills, especially where Booth was concerned.

Brennan's inner monologue was disrupted by a knock at her front door. Booth looked at her with mild panic, and she responded by grabbing his arm and pushing him into the kitchen, plate in hand.

"Stay here and be quiet. I don't know who it could be this early." She forced herself to walk normally to the door, trying to regulate her erratic breathing. She reached the door and peeked through the peep hole, a smile breaking her face.

"Richard!" Brennan stood aside as her soon-to-be-former partner entered the apartment.

"Mornin', Doc. Have you heard from our wayward friend yet?" He turned to her, not seeing Booth sneaking up behind him from his hiding place.

Brennan controlled her reaction, shaking her head. "Not yet, but I imagine it won't be too long before we get a surprise."

Suddenly, Gunn realized that his arms were pinned behind him and he was laying face-down on the parquet floor, his attacker laughing hysterically on top of him. Closing his eyes in disgust with himself, he suddenly flipped his body, taking Booth with him.

Still laughing, Booth took in his reversed position and slapped Gunn on the shoulder. "Dumbass! I can't believe you let me get the drop on you!"

Gunn returned his friend's grin and stood, offering his hand to help him up and pulled him into a bear hug. "Jackass! Man, I can't believe how much I missed your ugly mug!" He released Booth and motioned towards Brennan. "And give me a break, look what I had distracting me!"

Booth nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can completely relate." He ignored Brennan's blush and led the other agent into the kitchen. "Damn, Gunn…it's so good to see you."

The smile slipped from Richard's face as he sat next to Booth at the counter. "You too, Seeley. Really. I know you did what you had to do, but you really left a fucking mess around here."

Booth looked pained. "I know. How is...is Parker okay?"

"No." Gunn wasn't going to sugarcoat anything, especially knowing what the next several days were going to mean for Booth. "The kid thinks his dad, his hero, is dead. I don't mind telling you that he's had a hell of a time of it, Booth. If it weren't for this woman here...' He gestured at a frowning Brennan, "he probably would be a lot worse."

Booth watched Brennan duck her head, an embarrassed look on her face. "Bones? Hey…look at me."

She forced her eyes up, shocked when she saw tears in Booth's eyes as he returned her gaze. "I don't know how I can ever repay you for taking care of Parker. If I wasn't already head-over-heels in love with you that would be the capper." Booth stood and took Brennan in a gentle hug. "Thank you, Bones."

Brennan nodded against Booth's chest and hugged him back. "You're welcome, Booth. I love Parker and it was nothing you wouldn't have done for me."

Booth pressed a kiss to her head and released her, both sitting back down at the counter. Gunn, for a moment speechless, cleared his throat and got back to the business at hand. "Okay, I spoke to Hodgins this morning. He told Angela what was going on last night, and they're going to meet up with us whenever you're ready, Booth."

"Okay. Maybe you could call Ang after breakfast, Bones?" Booth was agreeable to almost anything at this point. He dreaded the reactions he was going to have to deal with when his friends and loved ones found out he had been alive this entire time, and having Gunn and Bones to help him get through it all was nothing but a blessing as far as he was concerned.

"I'll call her now, Booth. If I know Angela, she's probably been pestering Hodgins all morning to come and see you for herself." Brennan grabbed her cell and walked into the other room.

"Hey, Jackass." Gunn gave Booth a sideways glance.

"Yeah, Dumbass?" Booth continued eating, ignoring the look he was getting.

"You know what you just said there, right?"

"Shut up, Dumbass."


	17. Chapter 17

Four hours later, Booth, Brennan, Gunn, Hodgins and Angela all sat around Brennan's living room sharing a pizza and salads over lunch. Angela couldn't help herself, and she kept reaching over to pat Booth on the closest body part she could reach, whether it was his arm, shoulder or knee, still trying to convince herself that this was all real and not a dream of some kind.

"Ang, if you don't quit groping me I am going to tell your husband." Booth rolled his eyes at her for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Hodgins shook his head and snickered. "Nah, its okay Booth. I don't mind. I think it's funny."

"You would." Gunn threw in. "That woman exhausts you, doesn't she?" Everyone laughed until Booth put a hand up in protest.

"Okay, enough." Booth insisted. "Listen, I am really grateful to all of you for everything you've done, but I think I have to handle telling everyone myself from here on out."

There was a knock at the door and Brennan rose to answer it. "Funny you should say that, Booth…" She opened the door to the confused but curious faces of Cam and Sweets. "Come on in, you two." They followed Brennan towards the living room, where she stopped and gestured to the others gathered.

"You remember Special Agent Seeley Booth, don't you?"

Cam gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide and shocked. Sweets simply shook his head, closed his eyes and began crying. Booth stood and managed to get to Cam in two strides before her knees gave out on her, letting her hang onto him tightly as she sobbed into his chest. He put his other arm out and reached for Sweets, grabbing the younger man and enclosing him in free arm. The three of them stood there for a few minutes, just rocking back and forth slowly. Eventually, Sweets moved to separate himself from the embrace, wiping his eyes unashamedly. Cam held on a bit longer, and then finally deciding to throw caution to the wind reached up and to his complete surprise, kissed Booth square on the mouth.

"Damn you, Seeley Booth." She said, pushing him away slightly. "You'd best have a better excuse than you did last time because my heart can't take much more of this!"

Booth grabbed Cam in another hug and threw a gratified look to a quiet Sweets over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Camille. I would have told you if I could."

"Don't call me Camille."

"Don't call me Seeley."

Cam pulled back and laughed, swiping at her wet cheeks. "Alright then. Everything back to normal?"

Booth threw an arm over her shoulder and led her into the room. "God, I hope so."

After everyone had settled down and welcomed the newcomers, Gunn, Booth and Brennan explained the sequence of events that led to Booth's hiding, his contacting Hodgins and Brennan, and his eventual freedom. Cam, Sweets and Angela were shocked that no one had given any indication whatsoever of the drama that had consumed the others in the room for so long. Hodgins had been especially worried that Angela would be angry with him for keeping it from her, but she understood more than he knew. Their relationship was based on trust and love, and Angela knew that Jack had very good reasons for keeping Booth's secret. When she said as much, Hodgins couldn't keep the relieved look from crossing his face as he took his wife's hand and kissed it in gratitude.

Booth looked to Brennan, whose leg was tapping incessantly against the leg of her chair. He was about to ask her what the problem was when the doorbell rang again. Brennan paled, and Booth knew instantly who was waiting behind the door.

"Booth. Go to my bedroom and wait there. I'll let you know." Booth nodded tightly and with a hot ball of fear sitting in his gut headed for the bedroom. Everyone else sat in silence, to a person sensing who had come for a visit.

"Bones!" Parker grabbed her around the waist, as Brennan opened the door and smiled at Rebecca over his head. She had called Rebecca earlier that morning, so the other woman was well aware of the situation. She told Brennan that she wanted to be angry with Booth for letting his son mourn him like that, but Rebecca more than anyone knew what kind of a father Booth was, and knew he would have done anything to avoid this mess if he could have. All she was concerned about now was Parker's reaction to his father's reappearance.

Entering the living room, Rebecca took in the gathering and nodded tightly. Parker was thrilled to see his father's friends, and smiled brightly as he took a seat next to Brennan.

"Bones, Mom said that you have something important to tell me." He looked expectantly to Brennan, waiting for her to begin.

Running a hand through his curls, Brennan took a breath and began. "You know how some very bad men hurt your daddy and his friends?" Parker nodded sadly. "Well, we recently found out that those same men would have done anything to get to your dad, including coming after you. Now, don't worry. Your dad did everything he could to make sure you were perfectly safe, okay?"

"Daddy always took care of me. And I have you now, too. I'm not scared, Bones."

Brennan's voice cracked slightly as she continued. "Good, I'm glad. And I will always do everything I can to make sure you're safe, I promise. But your dad had to do something else that he didn't want to do in order to make sure that everyone he loves was protected. And I need you to understand how very much he wanted to let you know what he was doing, but he just couldn't. He loves you too much to put you in any danger, do you understand?"

Parker's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I think so. But..what did Daddy have to do?"

Taking a breath, Brennan took the plunge. "He had to pretend that he was dead, Parker."

It suddenly felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. The adults braced for the onslaught that, unbelievably, didn't come right away. Parker simply stared up at Brennan and gave her a half-smile.

"My wish came true, Bones."

The sob that had been holding itself back in her throat burst forth and Brennan opened her arms to catch Parker, who had launched himself at her without another word. They held tight to each other, both trying desperately to soothe the other as they rocked back and forth. The silence weighing heavily around them was broken by a single spoken syllable.

"Park."

Parker scrambled off Brennan's lap with a broken cry and let Booth pick him up, wrapping his arms and legs around him.

"I missed you so much, Little Man." Booth whispered.

"I knew it, Daddy. I knew that you wouldn't leave me and Bones. I knew…" Parker buried his face in his father's neck and sobbed. Rebecca stood from her place on the floor next to Brennan's chair and moved to rub her son's back and kiss his father's cheek.

"Welcome home, Seeley."


	18. Chapter 18

Booth was sitting at Brennan's dining room table going over all the paperwork that had resulted from his "death" and the sheer volume was making his head spin. In the back of his mind he knew that there were going to be consequences aside from the emotional effect on his family and friends, but he'd never considered how complicated it was to take care of the process of burying a loved one. The only thing that made the experience even slightly more tolerable was the fact that he had chosen Bones as his executor, so everything he needed was neatly filled out and kept in separate folders, all labeled in her precise hand. Of course, her attention to detail caused her to file all the appropriate forms as soon as possible, so Booth was going to have to do a lot of backtracking to even begin to undo the damage. The first order of business was informing his bosses at the FBI that he was, in fact, very much alive. And he had no idea how he was going to accomplish that feat.

Brennan stood at the end of the hallway watching Booth pore over the papers in front of him. She wanted to have the ability to say the right thing to ease his mind, to let him know that she was seriously reconsidering her refusal of his romantic overture of almost six months earlier, but she knew her own limitations and it frustrated her. A part of her that she, as a matter of habit, pushed down deep wanted to go to him, wrap her arms around his waist, and rest her head on his shoulder in comfort. But despite that debilitating habit, she was so very tired of forcing herself to ignore her impulses and compartmentalize every single human emotion that she ever had in order to protect herself and those she loved. It was time to make some changes.

Booth was staring at a letter from a lawyer he had never heard of with something close to shock. Someone, and he had his suspicions who, had set up a trust for Parker in the event of Booth's death or his 21st birthday, whichever came first, in the amount of ten million dollars. He was about to turn around to call for Brennan when he felt her behind him. She stopped, leaned against his back and wrapped her arms around his chest, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Booth stopped breathing for a moment.  _'Maybe my tumor is back, maybe I'm hallucinating…'_ he thought. But he could feel her warm body against him, her breath drifting past his ear and he knew that this was very, very real. So Booth made an executive decision, and simply went with it. He placed one hand over Brennan's clasped ones near his heart and squeezed lightly. Her sigh was at once comforting and staggering in its simplicity. They sat there in contented silence for a few minutes, Brennan wrapped around Booth while he softly rubbed her hands in his.

Finally, Booth lifted the lawyer's letter and held it up for Brennan to see. "Bones? Do you know anything about this?"

He felt her nod against him, but she made no move to extract herself from his hold. "Yes, I do. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before…" Brennan suddenly sounded unsure and started to move, but Booth held fast.

"No, don't apologize, Bones. Don't." He turned his head enough so that their faces were less than a breath away and smiled. "I love that you care enough about my son to make sure he's provided for. Granted, ten million dollars is a bit much, but I can't tell you what it does for me that you did this."

"Ten million? What?" Brennan stood and snatched the letter from Booth's hand. "Wait a minute…Booth, I only set Parker's trust up for five million, not ten!"

Booth stood took the letter back from Brennan. "Well, I suppose you could just call your lawyer and ask him." He found her confusion completely adorable, and had to physically restrain himself from just leaning in and kissing her.

"Oh. Yes. That would be the most rational course of action, wouldn't it?" Brennan looked cowed but still managed to smile. "When did you become the rational one in this relationship?"

Booth shook his head in amazement. "When did this become a relationship?"

"I-um, that's not what I…" Brennan struggled to get her bearings. "I meant partnership. A partnership is a type of relationship."

"That it is, Bones." Letting it slide, Booth pointed to the letter. "Go ahead and give this guy a call, and I will give Gunn a ring, see if he can help me figure out how to let Hacker know I'm alive."

"You trust Andrew?"

"I think we can, Bones. Apparently Senator Roberts gave up an agent in vice who was feeding him information, and Hacker was disgusted that it happened in his house. So Gunn thinks he will be understanding, and helpful."

"Is there anything I can do? Talk to him?"

"No, Bones. I think Gunn can handle it." Booth didn't know what was going on with him and Bones, but he definitely didn't want Andrew Hacker back in the middle of it, mucking up the works.

Brennan smiled lightly at Booth's instant refusal. "Booth…he dumped me, you know."

"What? Why on earth would any sane man dump you?" Booth was convinced now. Hacker was a doofus.

"We'll talk about it later. Just call Gunn. Oh…and see if he and Erik are available for lunch. I'll make something here, since you can't leave yet." She turned to leave the room.

"Will do, Bones. Thanks."

Booth watched her walk down the hallway towards her bedroom, cell phone in hand. The investigator in him wanted to sit her down and find out what was going on in her head, but the man who loved her was too busy reveling in their new, but surprising level of intimacy to care. There was a small part of him that wanted to resent the obvious fact that it took the idea of losing him for her to wake up to what was going on between them, but this was not Booth's first time riding in the front seat of the roller coaster that was Temperance Brennan and he knew that she never made a life-changing decision without facts to back it up. Knowing that now was definitely not the time to start the long and possibly painful conversation that was going to have to happen; Booth grabbed the phone to call Gunn. He needed to bring himself back from the dead before he started to build a new life.


	19. Chapter 19

Brennan hung up from the call with her lawyer, amused, a little bit sad and impressed. When Booth had mentioned the amount of the trust fund for Parker, she was genuinely confused. Yes, she had set up the fund for Parker when Booth had been shot and "died" the first time, but she had been telling Booth the truth. It was set up with five million dollars initially, an amount that Brennan arrived at after weeks of research. After speaking to her lawyer, however, she now understood why it had been doubled. Now her only problem was telling Booth.

When she went back into the living room, Booth was sitting on the sofa with a look on his face that was indescribable. He held the phone in his hand, turning it back and forth idly, something obviously on his mind.

"Booth?" Brennan took the seat next to him and reached for the phone. "What did Gunn say?"

There was a long moment of silence before Booth turned his head to her and blinked. "Oh. Um….Hacker is going to take care of everything."

"Everything? He wasn't angry?"

"No. Not at all. In fact, he seemed to be really…well, happy. It kind of weirded me out, Bones."

"Hmm." Brennan wondered what that meant.

"Hmm? That's all you have to say?" A smile ghosted his face at her expression. He really loved her squinty 'scrunchy face'.

"I just-hmm." Brennan laughed. "I suppose that sort of says it all."

Shaking his head, Booth laughed with her. "Alright, so…what did the lawyer say?"

"Well..." Brennan's explanation was halted by the doorbell. "Hang on, this will explain everything."

When Hodgins walked into the living room with Brennan, Booth had to admit that he was shocked…but not. Booth only knew of two people who had the kind of resources to set up such a large fund for Parker, and Brennan's generosity wasn't surprising. But Hodgins…

"Hey Booth." The scientist sat down across from him, looking nervous.

"Hodgins." Booth nodded. "What's going on?"

Brennan sat down next to Booth again, hand on his knee. "Just listen, Booth. Okay?"

Booth gestured to Hodgins. "Go ahead, then."

Taking a deep breath, Hodgins explained. "No matter what anyone else says, it is my fault that you were taken by the Gravedigger."

"Hodgins…" Booth began.

"No, Booth. No. Just…let me do this. I need to take responsibility for what I did. Yes, I had a hard time getting past what happened to me and Brennan in that car. And yes, I still have an occasional nightmare about it. But that is no excuse to break the law, and my hubris and stupidity almost killed my friend. Almost deprived Parker of his father. I was so…" He stopped for a moment, taking in slow, shallow breaths. Brennan took the opportunity of a pause to move to the chair next to Hodgins, placing a hand on his arm. He nodded gratefully at her and continued. "I was so damn angry…angry at being kidnapped in the first place, angry at being hit by a car and almost killed, angry for what Brennan had to go through, angry for all of you…I was just  _pissed._  And I couldn't find my way back from that, for the longest time. And the bitch of it was all I could think of was the ordeal. I was  _alive_. Brennan was alive. And that just wasn't enough for me."

Booth shook his head sadly. "Hodgins, you two went through something pretty damn horrible. It's understandable that you wouldn't just get over it. It takes time."

"But, Booth…it shouldn't have taken over two years! I stole that evidence long after I could use my issues as an excuse. And because of that, Taffett went after you. And because of me, Parker would have lost his father."

"But you guys saved me."

"Yes. But when everything was over, and we finally had her in jail, I realized something. I was standing in the hallway of the hospital, and I could see you sitting on a bed in the exam room. Brennan was standing next to you, still wearing her dress from the ceremony she missed, and suddenly, Parker came running down the hall. He tore into the room and practically took you out when he jumped on you. He was hugging you, and you were both crying and it just…hit me. You were alive. I was alive, Brennan was alive and that was the most important thing. I had apologized to you, and you accepted it with a hell of a lot more grace than I would have, but it didn't seem like enough. So, I called my lawyer."

"Who also happens to be my lawyer." Brennan added.

Realization started to dawn on Booth. "Ah…"

"Yeah. I called him, and asked about setting up a trust for Parker. He was confused at first, and he thought I meant that I wanted to  _add_  to the trust that Brennan had already set up. I didn't even know about that one, and I wasn't supposed to, but we figured out a way to link mine to Brennan's so that if anything happened to you, we would only have to make one phone call. And that's what the paperwork you were reading was about." Hodgins sat forward, elbows on knees, and looked Booth in the eye. "I have never been sorrier for anything I have ever done in my life than I was when my cowardice got you kidnapped. Yes, we might have never caught Taffett if all that hadn't gone down, but now I realize that it doesn't matter. We do fight for justice as a living, getting resolution for the victims, but in the end I think I speak for everyone when I say that we would all prefer for those crimes to never happen, to have our jobs become obsolete. And I forgot that. So setting up the fund for Parker was my way of making amends. To you, to Parker, to myself."

Booth sat silently for a moment, face still and eyes betraying nothing. Then he stood and extended his hand to Hodgins, who stood as well. "There is nothing to forgive, Jack. But if you need to hear it, then I forgive you. You always forgive family." Hodgins raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, family. And the fact that you want to help take care of Parker? That means more to me than anything you said or could have said here today. So, thank you."

Hodgins nodded as they dropped their hands and looked at each other for a second. "You don't want a hug or anything, do you?"

"What are we, chicks? Hell, no." Booth grinned and slapped him on the back of the head. "Now let's talk about the Seeley Booth Early Retirement Fund you need to get started…"

They were still laughing as Booth and Brennan walked Hodgins to the door.


	20. Chapter 20

After Hodgins left, Brennan headed to the kitchen to begin getting lunch ready for Gunn and Erik. She had decided on lasagna that Erik had given her the recipe for, and Booth pitched in by chopping vegetables for a salad. They worked in companionable silence for quite awhile, passing utensils and moving about the kitchen together easily. Finally the curiosity got the better of her, and Brennan began asking about the press conference scheduled for the next afternoon.

"I don't know, Bones. I guess Hacker wants to show off the fact that we took down a senator who threatened the life of an FBI agent, who was then forced into hiding and then, into faking his own death. And letting the rest of the world know-" Realization dawned on Booth the exact same time as it hit Brennan.

"Booth…you need to call Mary."

After calling Gunn and Erik and pushing lunch back an hour, Brennan picked up her cell and sat next to Booth on the sofa. "I'll speak to her first."

"That's a good idea, Bones. Thanks."

Brennan nodded, and with a tight smile began to dial.

"Temperance?" Mary's concerned voice filtered through the phone. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Mary. Everything is more than okay." She glanced at Booth, and then continued. "Is there a way for you to come back to DC for a day or two?"

"I thought you said everything was okay. What is going on?"

"I don't want to tell you over the phone, Mary. Please. Let me send you a ticket."

Brennan and Booth together had decided that something as crucial as the news of your dead boyfriend suddenly resurrecting should be revealed face-to-face. Booth thought that he should fly to Michigan to see Mary himself, but without proper warning Brennan was afraid the woman would pass out from the shock. Add that to the fact that the press conference Hacker organized was scheduled in less than 24 hours and Booth wouldn't even have time to get there and back, their decision was made for them. So they'd come up with the idea of trying to get Mary to come to DC as soon as possible.

Mary sighed. "Temperance, I can't. I just started this job, I have no vacation time. And I am knee-deep in Shakespeare with my freshman classes. I just can't get away. Please, tell me what is going on."

"It's about Booth."

"I gathered that. But why can't you tell me? Did something happen to Parker?"

"No, no…Parker is fine." Booth blanched at his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's concern for his son. He wanted to grab the phone from Brennan and explain himself, but they were both afraid that Mary would freak out. So he walked to the kitchen and forced himself to sit down at the counter, hands running through his hair distractedly.

"Are you sure you can't come here?" Brennan was still trying to get Mary to agree to a face-to-face meeting.

"I wish I could. Now please, tell me." Mary sat at her own kitchen table, glad for the stability as Brennan spoke.

"Booth is alive."

There was a deadly silence on the other end of the phone. Brennan glanced towards the kitchen, and although she couldn't see Booth from her vantage point, she knew he was listening intently. "Mary? Are you there?"

More silence. Then…"What do you mean, Seeley is alive?" The other woman's voice shook slightly.

"Booth was not killed in the explosion. He has been in hiding in New York."

"I-um, wow." Mary took a moment to gather her thoughts. "How did you find out?"

Brennan told Mary the story, beginning with the texts she'd received and ending with the reunion with Parker the previous day. After she was done, Brennan stood and walked into the kitchen to stand next to Booth.

"Mary, would you like to speak with him? He's here."

"No."

Brennan's eyes widened and Booth surmised what the answer had been. He wasn't surprised.

"No? I…are you sure? I know that he wanted to say some things to you himself."

Mary laughed without amusement. "Yes, I'm sure he did. And honestly Temperance, I  _want_  to speak with him. I do. But I'm not going to. Look, I've always known, from the beginning, that Seeley and I were not exactly a red-hot romance. Yes, I had hoped that he would feel for me what I felt for him…eventually, but his heart has always belonged to you and I just don't have the energy to compete, and I don't really want to."

"Mary…" Brennan felt tears prick her eyes as they locked with Booth's. "I don't know what to say."

Mary smiled a genuine smile, knowing that none of this was anyone's fault, yet was everyone's responsibility. "Temperance, you have done nothing wrong. In fact, you've been nothing but kind and friendly to me. And I will never forget how much of a comfort you were during and after the funeral, despite your own pain. But I think that in order for everyone involved to be happy, I need to let him go. I already had begun to, in fact. This way is only just a little harder."

Brennan was still at a loss for words, so the two women listened to the slight static on the line for a moment before Mary broke the stalemate.

"Listen, I need to go. I have a class. But…can I give you some advice?"

Walking away from Booth, Brennan agreed. "Yes, I suppose I owe you that much."

Mary sighed. "Temperance, you know now that life is short. Most of us only get one shot at true happiness, and now you've gotten a second chance. He loves you. Don't waste it." And without another word, she disconnected the call.

Brennan stood in the hallway, phone dangling from her hand, for almost ten minutes before Booth came up behind her and gently took the cell from her. "I'm not surprised that she didn't want to talk to me."

Shaking her head, Brennan stalked back to the kitchen. "I don't understand it. If she really did love you, wouldn't she want to hear your voice again? Even if you and she weren't together anymore? I mean, if it were me I would have been desperate to speak to you."

Booth sat back down at the counter and turned off Brennan's cell. "I understand it, Bones. I do. Aside from the fact that we really only knew each other for three months, Mary and I never really connected. Not in a tangible way, anyway. Sure, she is a wonderful woman and I really enjoyed spending time with her-"

"You mean the sex was good."

Booth chuffed a laugh. "I wouldn't know. It never got that far."

Brennan stared at Booth in shock. "You're kidding me."

"No, Bones. I'm not. Some of us have more control over our biological urges than others. We just weren't ready for that." Softer, Booth confessed, "Or, I wasn't, anyway."

Wanting to be hurt by Booth's comment, Brennan moved away from him a bit. "I don't know what that means."

"Of course you don't. Because I lied to you."

Brennan's whole body jerked in response, hurt and confusion crossing her eyes in equal measure. "Lied to me? Booth, what could you have possibly lied to me about? You're always more honest with me than anyone."

Looking her in the eye, ready to voice what he had feared as far back as his heart cared to look, Booth read the trust on Brennan's face and decided that he needed to play one last hand.

"I haven't moved on. I can't. And I think…no, I  _know_  that I can't ever move on from you."

Temperance Brennan could count on one hand the big emotional milestones in her life. If she really stopped to think about it, most of them would involve the man sitting in front of her right now, but since emotional turmoil was miles out of her comfort zone she chose to ignore that fact most days. But standing here, in her kitchen, with the only person who had ever given their life for her, had ever risked everything they were for her, who  _loved her for who she was and not what she could be_ , even those small, yet significant events seemed to narrow into a pinpoint compared to this one moment. So she steeled her resolve and followed Booth's long-ago advice to put her brain in neutral and pop her heart into overdrive. She walked to his side, placed one hand on his face, and nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that, Booth."


	21. Chapter 21

Booth placed his hand over Brennan's on his cheek. As much as it pained him, he knew this conversation was not going to be easy, nor was it going to end in the bedroom, a fact that  _really_  served to piss him off.

"Bones, can you call Gunn and cancel lunch? Maybe reschedule for dinner?"

Nodding, Brennan picked up her discarded phone. "I'll cancel. I have a feeling this is going to take awhile."

After hanging up with a curious but understanding Erik, Brennan followed Booth to the living room and sat across from him on the nearest chair. She didn't trust herself to sit next to him right then, she was afraid that her suddenly discovered urge to touch him ("'Suddenly'?  _Really_ , Temperance?" her internal voice sneered.) would be uncontrollable and they needed to get through this with as little distraction as possible.

"I have to ask, Bones…would we be having this conversation if you hadn't spent all that time thinking I was dead?" Booth decided that using Brennan's own blunt style of speaking was the way to go.

"No." Brennan looked up for a moment, trying to keep her breathing even. "Not right now, no."

"I appreciate your honesty, Bones." Booth leaned forward, elbows on knees. "You know I had to ask, don't you? And you know why?"

"I do."

"Okay, then. In the long run it doesn't matter to me. It's no less a legitimate epiphany than anything else and I'm okay with that. Everything beyond that is too important to nitpick."

"But Booth…I want you to be sure that I am sure. I know you said that you're the gambler, and I have to admit that up until this point I really didn't understand what the implications of that statement were beyond your asking me to give  _us_  a chance. But I've had a lot of time to reflect while you've…" Brennan took a deep breath. "While you've been gone. And yes, your death did spur my introspection. But it was never something that wasn't going to happen anyway. I know that now."

"And how do you know that, Bones?"

"Because I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone in my whole life. More than I trust myself. And you said that  _you_  knew. And that is enough for me." She stood up, only to drop to her knees at Booth's feet. "I've never gone wrong if I follow you, no matter what or where, so why should this time be any different? My standing with you,  _beside_  you…is never a gamble."

Booth nodded, and then leaned down to place his forehead on hers. "Alright, Bones. Alright. I'm convinced."

Brennan reached up and held his face in her hands. Wanting to connect with him, she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, barely a whisper but so full of promise it almost brought Booth to tears. Clearing his throat, he pulled away a bit and took in her confused expression. "It's okay, Bones. I just…there are things that I need to say to you now. Okay?"

"Okay." She leaned back a bit, watching his face closely. "Should I be scared?"

Booth laughed and reached for her hand. "No, Bones. The only thing we're going to have between us here is the truth. And since I know how much you love the truth, this should be a walk in the park for you." He smiled comfortingly, chaffing her hand between both of his. "I bear most of the responsibility for what happened that night in front of the Hoover."

"Booth.."

"No, Bones. I do. Yes, it needed to be said. It was a long time coming, and I don't blame Sweets one bit for calling me out. I can't even imagine how frustrating it must have been to watch me dance around my feelings, ignoring them or even pretending they didn't exist, when he knew all long how much I-" Booth swallowed and looked into her eyes.

"How much you love me." Brennan held his gaze, almost smiling at his surprise. "I am dense about a lot of human emotion, but you…I can read you like a book, Booth. Besides, you said you were head over heels in love with me yesterday."

Chuckling, Booth nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping you missed that. God knows Gunn didn't."

"You owe Gunn a beer, at least. He gave me a good talking to the other day; he made me see a lot of what I was missing that was right in front of me, and other things that I never even knew I missed."

Booth examined her face closely, and he instantly realized what his good friend had revealed to Brennan. "He told you about the casino."

"Yes. Booth…I-"

"No, Bones. No apologies, no blame, no regret. Everything that happened was supposed to happen."

"Okay. But I want you to know, you're the reason I didn't leave."

Brennan suddenly found herself in Booth's arms, his face buried in her neck, hands fisting the back of her blouse tightly. He breathed one word into her ear.

"Why?"

Brennan pulled back and looked at him curiously. "Why? Booth…"

"I need to hear it from you, Bones."

Wiping a stray tear, Brennan smiled. "Because I knew, too."


	22. Chapter 22

" _Okay. But I want you to know, you're the reason I didn't leave."_

" _Why?"_

_Brennan pulled back and looked at him curiously. "Why? Booth…"_

" _I need to hear it from you, Bones."_

_Wiping a stray tear, Brennan smiled. "Because I knew, too."_

Booth broke off a sob, and pulled Brennan back into his arms. "Why did we waste so much time, Bones?"

"It's like you said, Booth. It had to happen that way. I just wish I had behaved differently when you asked me if we could try…"

Moving her to the sofa cushion next to him, Booth shook his head. "Bones, that was my fault. Like I said, I did so much wrong that night, let so much go that I never should have. You said that you don't have an open heart, but nothing could be further from the truth. I've known the kind of open, generous heart you have since that day I stood in the observation room while you spoke with Shawn Cook, showing him that someone cared, someone wanted him to be happy, and would do everything they could to make sure that happened. I knew it when you put your hand on my arm to comfort me at Arlington when I confessed my darkest secret, to show me that you didn't judge me or think any less of me for what I had to do. Or when you cried because you had to take a human life, even if it was to save me. Or when punched me square in the jaw for lying to you about being dead that first time. Or when Zack-"

"Okay…okay, Booth. I get it." Brennan shook her head. "But…"

"Bones, I'm not done. You said you wanted to protect me from you. You were afraid that you were going to hurt me in some way. But you got it all wrong, and I should have called you on it. Despite what you think, there is nothing in the world that you could do that would hurt me."

"But if things don't work out-"

"I refuse to believe that would ever happen, Bones. Has either of us ever failed at anything we gave our whole heart and soul to? Ever?"

"I've failed at every relationship I've ever tried, Booth…and so have 's only rational to conclude that any relationship between the two of us would be doomed as well."

"How is that rational, Temperance? You're saying that if an experiment doesn't work a few times, you just give up ever trying it again? You know very well that every experiment has six parts. The independent variable, the levels of independent variable, the dependant variable, the control, the constant and the repeated trials. We are obviously the constants. The control is a successful, long-term relationship, the independent variable is the significant other, who all have different personalities and situations which represent the levels of the independent variable, the dependent variable is each separate relationship itself…and I don't think I need to explain what the repeated trials are."

Brennan grinned brightly at Booth, unable to believe that he was sitting there next to her breaking down the reasons they should become involved into a scientific experiment. "That's amazing, Booth. Just…amazing. You have been thinking about this argument for awhile now, haven't you?"

"Does it show?" He grinned back at her, insanely proud of himself for using her science against her. "Look, Bones…things have already changed between us. We can't go back. So we have two choices, we can move forward or…"

"No!" She grabbed his hands. "No. I don't want to talk about the other choice. You're right. I admit it, you were right. We need to finish the experiment."

"So what are you saying, Bones?" He couldn't keep the hopeful look from crossing his face for a fleeting moment.

Brennan dropped Booth's hands and wrapped hers around his neck, pulling him close. "From the moment we became partners, my life changed. I didn't realize it at the time, but meeting you was the most important moment of my life. I am still scared to death and I know I will make mistakes, but I also know that you'll be there all the way. And to be honest, I recognize now that that is where the hypothesis of my experiment really failed, Booth. I didn't recognize the constant. You. You're my constant, Booth. And I am so sorry that it took me this long to recognize it."

Booth pulled her into his arms again, holding her close. "Thank you, Bones. I love you, more than you know."

He could feel her smile against his neck. "I know, Booth. I know."


	23. Chapter 23

When the morning light hit Brennan's face, she couldn't stop the involuntary groan from escaping her lips. She and Booth had stayed up late the night before chatting and watching movies, trying to decompress from the heavy conversation of earlier in the day. No one called, no one came over…it was just the two of them hanging out and Brennan realized how much she had missed that. Rolling over with a sigh, she found herself face-to-face with Booth's smile.

"Morning, Bones."

"Good morning, Booth. Sleep okay?" She sat up and shook her head, trying to dispel the cobwebs from her brain.

"Best night of sleep I've had in months. Thanks, Bones." Booth jumped out of the bed and headed for the bathroom, sweats hanging dangerously low on his hips. "Do you mind if I shower first? I need to call Hacker here soon and find out what is going on today."

"No, not at all. Go ahead." Brennan leaned slightly to the left so she could watch Booth walk away. She couldn't help the saucy grin that spread across her face as she took in his well-formed rear end.

"Quit ogling me, Bones. I am a human being, not a piece of meat." The laughter in his voice made her smile through her blush.

"As if you mind." She pulled herself out of bed and headed for the kitchen to start coffee and make breakfast, amazed and happily content at the ease they felt after spending the night in the same bed.

As she scooped the coffee beans into the grinder, Brennan thought about their discussion the night before about the sleeping arrangements. Booth offered to sleep on the couch or the spare room, but Brennan wanted him close, even though they had decided that they were not going to have sex right away. She wasn't clear on why, exactly, they were waiting but she knew one thing….they weren't waiting much longer. It had been quite some time since Brennan had sex, and she knew Booth was in the same boat. And he looked so good and smelled so good and he  _loved_ her….bottom line, she wasn't going to be able to wait long. Booth was simply going to have to adapt.

After getting out of the shower, Booth reviewed everything that had happened (and  _didn't_  happen, his body reminded him) the night before while he dried off and pulled some clothes on.  _'Going to have to go buy a new suit today.'_ He thought. Another of the unintended consequences of playing dead…when he called them to let them know he was alive, Pops and Jared had told him that all his clothes had been donated to charity. And although he mourned the loss of some of his more classic rock t-shirts (and the socks, of course) they were only clothes. Everything he really needed was right here in this apartment.

 _Apartment._  Damn. He'd forgotten about that. No clothes to wear and nowhere to live.

Walking into the kitchen, Booth let Brennan in on his plans for the day. "Bones, I have to go out and buy a suit for this press conference. I think I have time before I go back to work to get a few more, but I do need one for today at least."

He watched her face change at the mention of his suits, and couldn't figure out what it meant. She nervously finished mixing the pancake batter in front of her, then turned and faced him.

"There's something I need to show you, Booth."

Booth stared into the open box on Brennan's bed, amazed. "You saved my socks and t-shirts, Bones?" He was insanely touched by her sentimentality and pulled her into a hug, kissing her squarely on the mouth. "You're amazing. I would have really missed my socks."

Smiling, Brennan pulled back from his embrace. "That's…uh, there's more."

"You saved my suits, too? And ties?" Booth joked, bending to pull some purple and red striped socks from the box.

"Yes."

His head jerked up in shock. "Really?" His smile was bright and excited. "Bones, that's fantastic!" He picked her up and spun her around the room, both laughing. He followed her back into the kitchen, permanent grin affixed on his face. "Now, if you just kept my apartment, everything will be perfect!"

"Uh…"

"No!"

"Yeah. I paid for six more months."

"Bones!" He clapped his hands together excitedly. "You're the best! But…"

She turned at his hesitation. "What?"

"Why?"

Brennan set the spatula she had just picked up back onto the counter and walked over to stand in front of him. "I just couldn't…I didn't want to…" She looked into his eyes. "I just couldn't let you go yet."

"Oh, Bones." Booth pulled her into an embrace, running his hands up and down her back. "And you really think you needed proof of how beautiful your heart is? Temperance, you're amazing." He held her for a few moments, reveling in their newfound closeness, then kissed the top of her head and released her. "Now go finish my breakfast, woman!" He smacked her playfully on the ass as she turned away, scowling.

Picking up the spatula again, she pointed it at him. "Do that again and you'll be drawing back a bloody stump instead of a hand."

His uproarious laughter filled the kitchen, and her heart.

Four hours later, Booth and Brennan sat in Hacker's waiting room, anxious about the coming press conference. Earlier, Brennan had taken Booth to the storage locker she had rented to help him pick out a suit, and was he pleasantly surprised to find out that his grey Burberry pinstripe with the lavender vest was her favorite, and had elicited a very… _enthusiastic_  reaction from Brennan when he put it on. He shook his head to clear the memory of her lips on his throat and wiggled in his seat. Brennan threw him an amused glare, as if she knew just where his mind had gone. He smiled slightly and threw an arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer.

When they had arrived at the Hoover, nearly every agent and secretary they passed had been genuinely happy to see Booth. Some hugged him, some cried; some simply shook his hand and went on their way. Brennan found that she wasn't surprised. She had described the memorial service to him, and he was shocked at the turnout, but she hadn't been. The only surprise she felt was at Booth's surprise. He really had no idea how much everyone respected and cared for him.

Before heading to Hacker's office, they had stopped at Charlie's cubicle and Booth bowed his head and said a short prayer for his friend. Afterwards, they stopped at Booth's former office and found that all his belongings were back in place, as if he had never left. Brennan knew that Hacker's secretary had packed up the office for Brennan, but she hadn't had the time or inclination to pick up his things, and now that seemed to have been a good thing.

After waiting only a few minutes, Andrew opened his door and welcomed them both inside, clapping Booth on the back enthusiastically. "Damn, Booth. It really is good to see you." Hacker sat down and motioned for Booth and Brennan to take the seats in front of him.

"Temperance, how are you? Much better than the last time we spoke, I imagine." He gave her a genuine smile.

"Yes, thank you Andrew. I am very happy to have Booth home." She glanced at Booth, wondering at the lack of discomfort between the two men.

"I can see that. And believe me; we are glad to have him back as well." Hacker shuffled some papers in front of him, then leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the desk. "Now, we need to go over what this press conference will entail, but we have one other order of business to attend to." He handed Booth an official-looking letter, grinning in spite of himself.

Booth took the paper and read it closely, a truly shocked expression on his face. "Uh…sir?"

"What is it, Booth?" Brennan leaned over, trying to read the letter.

Nodding at Booth, Hacker explained. "As of this morning, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth is now FBI Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth, Major Crimes Division."

"Booth!" Brennan jumped from her seat and enveloped him in a hug. "That's fantastic! Directing the entire division!"

"And it gets better." Hacker handed another letter over, this time to Brennan.

Reading the missive, Brennan dropped back into her seat. "Oh…oh my. Booth…" She looked up at his curious and still flabbergasted face, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "They're awarding you the FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement. Awarded by Director Mueller himself."

Booth's jaw dropped. "Sir? I don't know, I…"

Hacker shook off Booth's protest. "Booth, The FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement is awarded for extraordinary and exceptional meritorious service in a duty of extreme challenge and great responsibility, extraordinary and exceptional achievements in connection with criminal or national security cases. Your sacrifice in and handling of the Senator Roberts case is the perfect example. And this medal is long overdue. You should have had it years ago, Booth. So shut up and accept it with some grace, so I don't have to punish you by making a move on your woman here." He winked at Brennan and sat back in his chair, looking pleased.

Booth blanched, glancing at Brennan. "Sir, I know that there is protocol about interoffice dating, but…"

Shaking his head, Hacker smiled. "Temperance, Booth…I may be a kiss ass and I may be under qualified for this position, but I am not stupid. I saw this coming a mile away, and honestly, I think it was inevitable. I'm sorry it took this kind of event to spur you both in the right direction, but I'm glad nonetheless. And since I am the boss, it is within my discretion to punish or overlook certain…relationships within the Bureau and my division specifically. My thought is that as long as you both conduct yourselves professionally, as you've always done, there won't be a problem. Alright? Good. Now, let's go over your answers for the press conference."

Neither Booth nor Brennan could find anything else to complain about, so they clasped hands and listened intently to the ADD's instructions, finally completely relaxed for the first time in over two months.


	24. Chapter 24

Brennan peeked out from behind the curtain separating the media area at the Hoover from the back room where everyone was getting ready. She had known what a big story the arrest and subsequent confession of Senator Roberts had been, but add to that a suddenly-reappearing, incredibly heroic FBI agent…and the news had blown up like an atom bomb. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and all the local affiliates from the tri-state area had representatives waiting patiently for FBI Director Robert Mueller to come to the podium. Brennan was also shocked to notice that several overseas news agencies had reporters in attendance. The table to the left of the microphone bank held place cards with everyone's name on them, including herself and Cam, who was there to represent the Jeffersonian's part in the breaking of the case.

Booth stood next to Brennan trying to ignore the gut-churning nerves that had been threatening since he learned of how big this press conference was going to be. Thanking God that he had managed to not blow chunks all over Director Mueller when he was introduced to him earlier, he concentrated on controlling his breathing. For her part, Brennan could feel the tension flowing off Booth in waves, but she knew he would control them in time for the presser.

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan…are you ready?" Director Mueller smiled encouragingly and gestured towards the front of the media room. "Let's get this show on the road!"

The Director led the FBI and Jeffersonian contingent out, holding Cam's chair for her as Booth held Brennan's. He waited until Hacker; Deputy Director Pistole, and ADC Henry, head of the DC office were all seated before welcoming everyone and then reading the joint statement about the case by the FBI and the Jeffersonian. When that was finished, Mueller read a statement explaining Booth's part of the case and what he was forced to do in the aftermath. While Booth had been involved in what he thought was every aspect of the case at the beginning, he was surprised to hear the Director giving him copious credit on the arrest of Roberts as well. He looked curiously at Brennan, who simply shrugged and smiled, returning her attention to the podium.

After summarizing the list of charges against Roberts and the eleven accomplices arrested in connection to the case, Mueller picked up a small box and turned slightly towards Booth. "Ladies and gentleman, before I open the floor to questions, I have something I would like to say. Since 1908, when Attorney General Charles Bonaparte created what eventually became the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this agency has operated under the belief that the government is best served by efficiency and expertise, not political connections. We continuously strive to uphold the basic tenets of fidelity, bravery and integrity. And I am proud, to an agent, of the group that we have assembled here at the J. Edgar Hoover Building and in every field office across the country."

At this, Hacker leaned over and motioned for Booth to stand. Giving a smiling Brennan a wary look, Booth rose and walked to stand next to the Director. "Special Agent Booth has been a proud, loyal, dedicated, and self-sacrificing member of our Bureau for fifteen years now. In that time, he has either been the lead agent for or participated in the apprehension of over 250 of the worst criminals the world has to offer, and has always conducted himself with honor and bravery in every situation. Six years ago, he was partnered with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan via the Jeffersonian Institution and together they have acquired an almost perfect conviction rate, something that heretofore was unheard of in the FBI and astonishing considering that no other agent had been partnered with a civilian up to that point. They were considered an experiment, and I am proud to say that experiment has yielded amazing results. Now, I've explained what Agent Booth was forced to endure due to his involvement in the investigation into Senator Roberts, and through everything he had to do, Agent Booth was still committed to bringing Roberts and his associates to justice, no matter the personal cost to himself. And while normally I would say that this is an extraordinary feat, for Agent Booth this was just another day at the office. His dedication to justice, his unwavering belief in right and wrong, and his innate goodness and integrity are the personification of everything the FBI strives to emulate in our mission to protect the people of the United States of America and it is with great pleasure that I announce that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is honored to bestow The FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement to Special Agent Seeley Booth."

As applause thundered through the small media room, Director Mueller opened the case containing Booth's medal and held it up for him to see as he shook his hand heartily.

Shaking his head, Booth took the box and gazed at the medal with amazement. Never comfortable with praise even in the best of circumstances, all he wanted to do was grab Brennan and run for the exit. Suddenly, he realized that his hand was being taken by a much smaller one, and he looked to his left to see Brennan standing next to him, smiling brightly. She reached up and pulled Booth into a tight embrace, pride and happiness making tears prick her eyes.

Unaware of how close to the bank of microphones Booth was actually standing, Brennan pulled back and looked him in the eye as she spoke. "Booth, you deserve this so much. You deserve every honor they can bestow upon you because you are the best damn FBI agent in this building, and it's about time they acknowledged that fact. You are an amazing agent, as well as a wonderful father and a fantastic friend, and for all those reasons and hundreds more, I am so proud of you and I love you more than I can ever express."

The gasp that echoed through the room didn't even register with them as Booth smiled brightly and pulled Brennan to him for a deep, ecstatic, love-filled kiss that was watched over and over again by hundreds of thousands later that night on every news channel in the country.


	25. Chapter 25

After a whirlwind day, Booth and Brennan finally found themselves alone for the first time since they walked out of her apartment that morning. Sitting contentedly on the sofa, they laughed about the calls they had both been getting since Brennan's nationally televised declaration of love for Booth. The first (and loudest) call had been from Angela, followed closely by Parker, Max and Brennan's publicist, the latter wanting to schedule several morning show interviews with the two of them to promote the impending release of Brennan's latest book in paperback. They both promised her that they would think about it, but they didn't want to commit to anything right away.

Breathing a deep sigh and leaning further back into the sofa cushions, Booth threw an arm around Brennan's shoulders, finally able to relax. "I am so glad this day is over, Bones. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah. But really Booth, I enjoyed watching you get your commendation. It has been a long time coming, even though you think you don't deserve such praise." She ran a lazy hand through the short hairs on the back of his neck, causing goose bumps to form on his arms.

"We don't do what we do for the glory, Bones. We never have."

Grinning evilly, Brennan shook her head. "Oh, I don't know…I vaguely remember someone claiming he was going to go watch shark adventures in Hawaii and have his face put on a coin."

"Geez, Bones. Do you remember everything I say?"

Brennan swung her leg over his and straddled him, her grin turning into a full-on smile. "I do remember something you said once about the difference between…"

She kissed a path along his whiskered chin.

"…crappy sex and…"

Her lips burned along his neck, nuzzling his collarbone.

"….making love."

Booth adjusted himself so they were pressed as close together as possible and fisted her hair in his hands, holding on for dear life. "I did say something about that, now that I think about it…"

"Mmmmhmmm." She pulled at his t-shirt, forcing it over his head. "As you know, I am a scientist…"

Booth ran both hands down her torso, sliding them under her blouse in the front to gently cup her breasts, thumbs flicking the nipples. "Yes, I am aware of that fact." He kissed the soft spot under her earlobe, blowing air on the wetness he left behind.

"And as a scientist, I need…" She moaned softly as Booth moved his kisses down her neck to nestle into her chest. "I need quantifiable proof of a hypothesis…"

"Mmmmhmmm…."

"Your phone is ringing."

Booth dropped his forehead to her breasts and sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. Will it never stop?" He reached to the coffee table, tipping her backwards in his other arm, and picked up his cell. "It's Gunn."

"I'll kill him."

Booth laughed and flipped the phone open. "Hey, Dumbass. This better be good."

Brennan watched, fascinated, as whatever Gunn was saying seemed to both irritate him and make him smile. After a few more minutes of good natured, foul-mouthed teasing, Booth slapped the cell shut, throwing it on the floor. He sighed and placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss to her collarbone.

"What was that all about?" Her breath hitched in her chest as he continued his hot kisses along her chest.

"My new job."

"The SAC position."

"Yeah."

The implications of what Booth wasn't saying finally hit Brennan full force. She reared back and started at him, open-mouthed. "I never even thought…"

"Yeah."

"If you take the job…"

"Yeah."

"We won't be able to be partners anymore."

"Nope."

Still kissing her, Booth had his eyes closed, refusing to look into her face. "Booth?"

"Mmmm. Yeah, Bones?"

"Talk to me. Please."

Finally stopping, he looked up into her eyes and she could see they were brighter than she had ever seen them. And filling with tears.

"Oh, Booth…" She took his face in her hands and kissed him softly on the lips, lingering a few moments, letting their breaths mingle together. "Do you want to take the job?"

He leaned back, pulling her with him. She snuggled up against him, listening to his heart pounding and his voice rumbling through his chest. "I don't want to want it. Does that make sense?"

"I'm not sure. Explain it to me."

"Okay…" He took another deep breath. "I know it's a fantastic job, I know that. There are only five SAC's at the DC field office and I would be one of them, in charge of the entire major crimes division. It's a tremendous honor and a huge career move. And I do want it, Bones."

"Ooookay." She drew the word out in confusion. "Go on."

"But, this.." He gestured between them. "Our partnership, is so damn important to me. It's the reason I got the job in the first place. How can I just abandon you, the squints, all of that for my own selfish reasons?"

"Seeley Booth!" Brennan pushed off his chest and stood in front of him. "God dammit, you are the dumbest, sweetest, most loyal  _moron_  I've ever met! You have worked your ass off for this promotion, I know because I was there! And believe me…I know how many other promotions you turned down just to keep working with me, I'm not stupid! But if you don't do this…if you turn this down because of some crazy misplaced sense of chivalry or loyalty to me or the team, I just might have to give you that ass kicking I've always been promising you!" Her chest was heaving from her diatribe and she was glaring at him with fire in her eyes.

Booth smiled slightly and patted his lap, gesturing to her. "Come back here, Bones. Sit."

She relented and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him softly. "I'll never forgive you if you turn this job down, Booth. You have to take it."

"I know, Bones. I know." He held her close, forehead resting on her shoulder. "But damn, I am going to miss working with you, babe."

"Me too, Booth. Me too."


	26. Chapter 26

Although Booth found that his bodily desire to finally make love with Brennan hadn't waned, his brain was telling an entirely different story. He was preoccupied with the thought of no longer being able to go out into the field with his partner, and even though Brennan gave it a valiant effort, even she found her thoughts drifting to what she was going to do about the situation.

Sighing, she climbed off Booth's lap and smiled sadly. "This wasn't how the evening was supposed to go."

"I know, Bones. And you have to know how much I want you…I do. But I can't get the fact that I'm not going to be in the field anymore out of my head."

"I admit, I have been thinking about what I am going to do, now that you won't be there. I've always said that I wouldn't work with anyone else but you, but after working with Richard…"

"Gunn is staying, Bones. But he wants to talk to you about it first."

Brennan's face lit up. "He does? Oh…" Seeing the sadness still in Booth's eyes, she tried to look less excited, knowing that he was still struggling. "Well, then I guess I have more to think about."

He loved how she tried to temper her excitement for him, but he refused to bring her down with him. "Bones, it's okay. And honestly, if there were anyone besides me I would feel comfortable having you go out in the field with, it's Gunn. So that's really the majority of my worries about this whole thing. Your safety is more important to me than any promotion."

"So, would this promotion make you Gunn's boss?"

"Yeah. That's part of why he called. He offered to stay on as your partner, knowing it would put me more at ease, and also to start, as he put it, 'kissing the right ass'." Booth chuckled as he stood up. Heading for the kitchen, he called back to Brennan. "Bones, you want another beer?"

"Yeah, might as well." Brennan tucked her legs under her and leaned back into the sofa. "You're staying here again, right?"

Booth returned from the kitchen and handed her an open beer. "Yes, if it's okay. But I think…"

Smiling ruefully, Brennan agreed. "Yeah. No hunky punky. I know."

"Hanky panky, Bones. Hanky panky."

Walking into the diner the next morning, Gunn couldn't keep the delighted smile off his face as he saw Booth and Brennan already sitting at their table, both on the same side, hands linked on the tabletop. Erik nudged him and grinned, eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"You be good. You know how touchy Booth is." Gunn pushed him forward, making him miss a step and stumble.

"Nice, spousal abuse. Want me to arrest him, Erik?" Booth was amused at the instant grin that crossed Erik's face.

"You know something, Seeley? That's not a bad idea to have in my back pocket. Thanks." Erik clapped Booth on the shoulder as he leaned over him and kissed Brennan on the cheek. "Good morning, beautiful. You looked lovely on television yesterday."

Blushing, Brennan shook her head. "I still can't believe I did that in front of the entire country."

Gunn sat down and chuckled. "Nah, don't sweat it Doc. Personally, I thought it was fitting. Nothing you two do is ever going to be on a small scale."

"Ain't that the truth?" Booth agreed, waving the waitress over to get everyone's orders. "So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? Erik finally realizes he could do so much better and decided to dump your ugly ass?"

Erik smiled happily at Booth. "Don't think I haven't thought about it."

"Alright, enough. This is actually important, people." Gunn accepted his coffee gratefully from the waitress and took a long sip.

The waitress hesitated for a moment before turning to Booth. "Agent Booth, I just wanted to say that I'm so glad you're back. We've missed you and Dr. Brennan around here, it was getting boring without you two bickering about something over lunch every day."

Booth gave her his full-on charm smile, making Brennan and Gunn both roll their eyes. "Thanks, Betty. I'm just glad to be back. I missed you all, too."

Betty raised an eyebrow at Brennan. "You resisted him for how long? With that smile?" Gunn snorted into his cup. "You're a stronger woman that I am, Dr. Brennan."

"Yes, well…his charm only gets him so far, Betty. It begins to wear on you after awhile. Along with that massive ego." Brennan nudged Booth and grinned.

"I can imagine." Betty smiled. She let them know that their food would be up shortly, and then made her exit, still laughing.

"I can't believe how mean you are to me sometimes, Bones. I thought you loved me."

"I do, but really Booth…you're getting too old to live on your charm. You're going to have to improve on your personality to get by in your new job." She gave him an innocent grin, barely holding back a full chuckle.

Booth pointed across the table at Gunn. "I blame you for her newly acquired smart mouth, you know."

"Moi?" Gunn placed a hand on his chest and managed to look offended. "I bear no responsibility for your lady's sudden grasp of sarcasm and wit. That's all on you, my friend."

Chuffing in derision, Booth changed the direction of the conversation. "So, what was this important announcement you needed to share with us?"

Gunn glanced at Erik, who nodded. "Well, since I hear that you've  _officially_  taken the SAC job…"

Booth gaped. "How did you hear that? I only let Hacker know this morning!"

"I have my ways." Gunn gave Brennan a conspiratorial look that was not missed by Booth.

"Bones! You called him?"

"Right after you called Hacker. You were in the shower. I didn't think you'd mind."

"He doesn't, Doc. He's just mad you stole his thunder." Eyebrows raised, Gunn continued. "Anyway…since you're not going to be in the field as much, I thought I would formally offer my services as the permanent Jeffersonian liaison. If the good doc there doesn't mind partnering with a much better looking and infinitely more intelligent man than her last partner, that is."

Brennan knew that this was one of those times where her reaction was incredibly important to Booth as to how he himself handled a situation. While most people thought that she followed his lead in all things emotional, she was well aware that many times, Booth took his cues from her. She stole a quick glance at Booth's expressionless face, and took a chance.

"While I have serious doubts that you will ever measure up to my former partner's skills with a weapon, intuitive nature and impressive natural ability to interrogate suspects, I am willing to accept you as the new liaison…as long as Booth has no objections."

Booth smiled at Brennan's attempt to make him feel better about the end of their partnership. She had been doing that since the night before, when the consequences of his promotion finally hit both of them. He was still a little torn, but after hearing what the pay raise was and getting another verbal beating from Brennan later in the evening, he decided to take the job with no regrets. Well, few regrets. He would always miss driving to crime scenes with her, interrogating witnesses by her side, and spending lunch time napping on her office sofa…but things changed, and not necessarily for the worst. He was slowly learning to accept that fact.

"I don't have a problem with your partnering with Gunn, Bones. This really is your decision, as much as I appreciate your consideration of my feelings." He noticed how Gunn's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "What? I may be an over-protective alpha male at times, but I do know that Bones is a confident, intelligent, strong woman and she is perfectly capable of making this decision without me."

"Wow." Gunn looked at Erik. "Are you buying this crap? Because I know I'm not."

"I love him and I'm not even buying it." Brennan said, deadpan.

"You two suck and I don't even know why I hang out with you." Booth crossed his arms in mock irritation. "So, Erik…feel like ditching these two? I make more money and have more brains than this loser does, you know." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Erik laughed and shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Seeley, but I think I'll stick with the broke dumb guy for now."

"Fine. But you don't know what you're missing." Booth gave him a genuine grin and turned towards Brennan. "So, Bones…what do you think? Think you can handle this dumbass on a daily basis?"

"I suppose I can live with him. He does have pleasing, symmetrical features so at least the scenery will be nice."

"She said you're gorgeous, Richard." Erik patted his shoulder. "She has a good eye." Gunn raised an eyebrow at Booth, who rolled his eyes back in return.

"Alright, so it's decided. I take the job, Bones gets Gunn as a partner…hey! Are you moving here permanently, Erik?"

"Yes, as soon as I can, actually. I already have several offers from architectural agencies here so all I have to do is choose."

"That's fantastic, Erik. Are you moving in with Gunn, or are you looking for something bigger? I know a few good realtors, if you're interested."

"Thanks, Temperance. Actually, we are looking. I'll let you know when we're ready to start looking."

"Great. I wanted to look for a bigger place myself, now I have an excuse to call sooner than I planned." Brennan idly took a sip of coffee, impervious to Booth's shocked expression.

"Bones? You want a bigger place? Why? Your apartment is great."

Shaking her head, Brennan leaned back in her chair. "I love my apartment, but I would really love to have a house. I mean, I assume we would have Parker a couple of times a month and I only have the one spare room, which I already use as an office. I thought you would need an office as well, Booth. Also, kids need a yard to play in and I know that eventually we're going to want another child and I didn't want to have to find a house at the last minute."

Booth was glad he hadn't been drinking his coffee when Brennan finished verbally throwing up all over him. "Alrighty then."

"That's all you have to say, Booth?" Brennan seemed disappointed.

"Yup. Hard to argue with that logic, Bones."


End file.
